One of the questions I had recently was about baby formula canisters, like the one pictured here. Most of these containers are made out of liquid paperboard (LPB), a combination of paper and plastic (and sometimes also metal) to keep moisture out. In the City of Austin, these are not recyclable since they’re a composite/mixed…
Do you need a new car seat or an upgrade for your child or grandkid? April 22 – May 4, 2019 is this spring’s Target Car Seat Trade-in event! Quoting from Target’s website, “Guests who trade in their old car seats will receive a 20 % off coupon toward a new: car seat car seat…
More than you thought Cities are starting to provide Styrofoam recycling. Styrofoam can be melted down in a densifier into a block of material that can then be sold for reuse. The City of Austin and New Braunfels provides this service! I started a neighborhood Styrofoam collection last Christmas when I started to see all…
This article appears in the April 2019 edition of the Front Porch Flyer. It has been expanded here to address apartments, condos, and specific donation types. Approximately 6.6 million pounds of textiles are going to the landfill each year from ARR’s curbside customers. That’s 18,000 pounds of clothes going in the trash every day rather…
What is the size of your trash cart? Garbage archaeologists have learned…the volume of garbage that Americans produce expands to fill the number [or size] of receptacles that are available to put it in. Rathje, William and Cullen Murphy. Rubbish! HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. 1992 We are very fortunate here in Austin, Texas. We may choose…
Top Contaminants in Mueller Recycling Carts This article originally appeared in the January 2019 edition of the Front Porch Flyer. It has been updated with apartment information and additional cities’ information. As amazing as Muellerites are at being green, we do have recurring “contamination” in our blue recycling carts. Below are incorrect items that are…
Composting Grooming Don’t forget the small stuff. In our case it’s not too small. Twice a year each year we shave our dog Boogie, who is a small 20 pound terrier mutt. She basically looks like a white Wookie. It’s like shearing a sheep! She almost fills up a kitchen compost collector as you see…
How to stop receiving unwanted mail Red Plum is the most widely received coupon circular. To remove a mailing address, folks should visit http://www.valassis.com/about-us/contact-us, and select “Remove Mailing Address” in the middle of the page. It can take up to 6 weeks, so be patient. ValPak is another coupon mailer. To opt out, visit https://www.valpak.com/coupons/show/mailinglistsuppression To…
Per Austin Resource Recovery’s 2018 Compost Audit Report, the top 5 contaminants in the City of Austin’s curbside compost collection are: 1) Recyclables (glass, plastics, tin/aluminum, cardboard)2) Clothes/Textiles3) Styrofoam4) Treated Wood 5) Trash The entire Compostable Material Composition Audit is available here. This is the revised report clarifying cardboard’s original listing as a contaminant. It no…
Disposable/Single Use Freezer Bags They have many names. An image search for the technical name brings up at least the following: You may receive them using meal-kit delivery like Blue Apron, food delivery, your Amazon Prime Now order or an Instacart order. According to Austin Resource Recovery, this is a “bubble wrap and a type…