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…
Fur and Feet
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…
Unwanted Mail or Junk Mail
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…
Top 5 Compost Contaminants in Austin
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…
Give Them The Cold Shoulder
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…
It’s a Filmy Situation
Recycling plastic bags and plastic film One of the areas that I think is often overlooked in educating citizens is plastic bag and plastic film recycling. Per Austin Resource Recovery (ARR), these are “Those materials you can push your finger through that cannot be recycled in your blue [recycling] bins.” Plastic bags and plastic film…
What’s in a name, name tag that is?
This month I attended a group meeting. I arrived early as I always do (I hate late minute parking in Austin and I cannot parallel park!) When I saw there were disposable name tags to fill out, I pulled out my reusable name tag and clipped it on. New attendees to this monthly meeting asked…
Austin Recycles—Independent of China
The following information was shared with City of Austin Zero Waste Block Leaders in the February/March 2019 newsletter. This is long so bear with me. It’s an official response from Austin Resource Recovery/The City of Austin to citizen concerns. China’s program to stop importing recyclables, “Operation Green Fence,” was formally implemented beginning in 2013 because…
Maybe Put a Lid On It?
The most popular post I ever made on social media as a Zero Waste Block Leader was a clarification on lids. At one of the recent neighborhood association meetings, the big question of the day for me was if canning lids could go in the recycling. Well, as you can image we had quite the…
a little more green begins
I’ve been interested becoming a greener person since my third grade teacher taught us about recycling, litter, saving water, etc. The first two activities I remember doing were an audit of our recycling bin, and making a soda bottle weight to take up toilet tank space to reduce water usage. In 2014 I became a…