Recycle week: See what happens after the blue bin

This week's eco-topic: Recycle

If you're a recycling nerd and fascinated by the nitty-gritties of the recycling process, you'll really want to read Fake Plastic Fish, written by one Beth in Oakland.

To start, Beth has a pretty comprehensive guide to recycling like a pro -- with detailed explanations for those burning recycling questions you have but have been afraid to ask for fear of sounding too nerdy. Wondered if those Tetra Paks your soy milk comes in are recyclable? Puzzled over why that compostable cup isn't biodegrading in your compost heap? Beth has the answers.

In fact, Beth's been visiting different recycling centers and dumps that service San Francisco and Oakland -- and documenting her findings in blog posts illustrated with photos and video. Check out her 2-parter documenting her visit to the Davis Street Transfer Center to see visual proof that unthinking people will indeed throw propane tanks (left) into their recycling bins  -- a practice that can mean explosions at the recycling center!

You'll pick up some important tips -- i.e. why you shouldn't put your recyclables into a tied-up plastic bag. However, keep in mind that some of Oakland and San Francisco's policies are different from those in LA. For example, Angelenos can put plastic bags into our blue bins, while those in Oakland should not because they jam up the recycling machines (see right). Of course, people in both cities can bypass the confusion by simply bring their own bags...

And you'll learn some odd facts. Did you know that the San Francisco Dump has an Artist in Residence program? "Artists get space at the dump and access to whatever materials they want to use for three-month periods," Beth says.

Beth is more of a reducer than a recycler herself though. She's trying to keep plastic out of her life as much as possible, and says this about recycling:

Recycling is necessary. But it's not the ultimate goal. Reducing our plastic consumption is the only real solution to this mess. Recycling is what we do with the plastic we end up with after we've reduced as much as we can. And what happens to it in Asia is the subject of another post for another day.

Read and be inspired to de-plastic your new year!

Photos courtesy of Fake Plastic Fish

Comments

[Beth Terry]

Siel, this post is an awesome summary of my research so far!

Next week, I'll be visiting a landfill and also a commercial compost facility that handles our green bins, so I'll have even more trash talk on my blog!

[Brooke]

I would really love to see more posts on the harmful effects of plastic. It is amazing how much plastic there is. Plastic is terrible in so many ways - they use oil in the manufacturing process, are difficult, if not impossible to recycle and do not biodegrade. They clutter up landfills and end up in the ocean, choking the marine life. I think it is great that California requires stores to sell reusable bags but I believe the government needs to step in and do more. If the consumer was forced to pay for the true cost of the bag, then maybe people would rethink the 'convenience' factor.

On a related note, I thought you might enjoy this animated cartoon about the Story of Stuff:

http://www.storyofstuff.com

Cheers,
-Brooke

[Siel]

Looking forward to the landfill tour, Beth :)

Brooke -- Saw the story of stuff a while back :) It was a bit shrill, I thought, though a v. good message --

One of the difficulties of writing about the plastic issue is that, while talking of the harmful effects does motivate some, it doesn't seem to motivate the majority of people. People often seem to have "bad news burnout" -- so I tend to focus on what to DO instead. But maybe an occasional post about WHY we need to change how we do things -- esp. regarding plastic -- would be helpful :)