Burlingame Vice Mayor Prompts Bulb Recycling
Posing as a consumer, Burlingame Vice Mayor Terry Nagel was troubled by the lack of answers she found regarding proper disposal of her compact fluorescent light bulbs.
“Everyone gave me different information,” Nagel said. “Even though the state made disposing of CFLs in residential trash illegal in 2006, they didn’t provide funding for community awareness programs — they passed the law, but gave no money for its enactment.”
Without proper education, the public likely does not know the harmful impact of not recycling these bulbs. While CFLs use about a quarter of the amount of electricity of standard bulbs, they contain mercury, a substance that once in a landfill is there forever, Nagel said.
Since 2008, Nagel has been working to encourage recycling centers in San Mateo County to publicize proper handling of CFLs. She enlisted the help of Recology — which will be taking over garbage services in a large part of the county starting in January — to post a list of CFL disposal locations within the county.
“This is just one component in the many services we provide,” Recology spokeswoman Gina Simi said. “Proper disposal is vital to the environment and our communities.”
Only a handful of recycling centers were available a couple years ago, but now Recology lists about 26 throughout San Mateo County, including several Home Depot and IKEA locations.
“These big businesses have been great about taking back CFLs,” Nagel said. “Every time people go to these stores, they are encouraged to recycle. It’s good to have reminders out there.”
With composting and mixed recycling coming to Burlingame, it is an ideal time to be reinforcing proper disposal of hazardous waste, Nagel said. It is necessary for people to understand the importance of recycling CFLs, both in environmental terms and for their own safety.
By: Sarah Haughey
Examiner Staff Writer
July 29, 2010
http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/Burlingame-vice-mayor-prompts-bulb-recycling-99499659.html
Free Compost Workshops!
Recology San Bruno’s Community Event
Workshops are free! Reservations are not necessary but encouraged so there is a way to contact participants in case a class is canceled. To reserve a space in a workshop or for more information, please call the City of San Bruno Recreation Department at 650-616-7180. You can also register through the County of San Mateo RecycleWorks at 888-442-2666 or by emailing RecycleWorks.
Workshop Dates:
- Saturday, July 27, 9:30 AM – 11:00 AM
- Tuesday, August 21, 9:30 AM – 11:00AM
Learn more about the services Recology provides to San Bruno at http://www.recologysanbruno.com/index.htm.
This Saturday you can learn how to turn your kitchen food scraps and yard trimmings into a rich soil amendment that will help your garden thrive. Compost Workshops are held at the San Bruno Recreation Center in San Bruno City Park.
Recology San Mateo County Debuts Instructional Videos!
“How –To” Videos Highlight Upcoming Programs
Recology San Mateo County has produced a compilation of instructional videos to help customers learn more about the new programs coming to their area as part of our continued preparation for rolling out collection services to the twelve member agencies in the RethinkWaste service area. The videos are cutomized for three different types of customers: Single Family Homes, Multi-Family Dwellings and Commercial Customers.
The goal of the videos was simple: to provide our customers with informative videos that are enjoyable to watch and that enable our customers to learn about the many services we have to offer. We’re very excited about the new programs we’re offering and we hope the videos convey that.
Each video highlights “CartSMART” (for Residential customers) and “BizSMART” (for Multi-Family Dwellings and Commercial customers).
CartSMART features weekly single-stream recycling, a composting program and garbage collection services for residential customers.
BizSMART features weekly single-stream recycling and garbage collection with optional compost services. Each video also features a section called “Beyond the Cart,” highlighting proper disposal of hazardous waste and bulky-item pick up services.
Videos can be viewed in full length in both English and Spanish on Recology San Mateo County’s website at www.RecologySanMateoCounty.com. For those who are only interested in one topic in particular (i.e. recycling or composting), the video is also broken up into individual chapters.
Recology San Mateo County takes over for Allied Waste of San Mateo County as of January 1, 2011 as the new collection services provider for the RethinkWaste member agencies.
It’s been a good morning
Every morning, I wake up to the hum of the daily news on the radio. These days most of the reporting is on the weak Euro, unemployment across the country, the BP oil spill, or public opinion.
This morning, I woke up to this, San Francisco teacher Stephen Lavezzo, talking on KQED about his growing passion for sustainability. The key to his conversion to a pro-”green” perspective, he said, was a visit to Recology’s transfer station (aka the Dump). The transfer station tours provide a perspective on what most Americans rarely see: where their trash goes each and every day.
The average American produce between 5 and 7 pounds of trash each and every day. Most of it is not recycled. The discards of a culture that emphasizes consumption of new things almost always find their way into a landfill. A visit to the dump puts it all into a humbling, shame-inducing perspective.
The first time I saw “the pit” where all of the landfill-bound garbage goes, a deep sense of purpose ricocheted through my body. And like Stephen Lavezzo, I decided to educate the people in my life about Recology. What’s also impressive about the transfer station is how much work is done to keep materials out of the pit, including collecting organics like yard clippings and food scraps, for composting. San Francisco has the highest landfill diversion rate in the country.
This morning, as I made my way to the office, a Recology recycling truck, powered by natural gas, passed me on the street. As it did, I felt a renewed sense of pride in the hard work we do diverting recoverable materials, like organics, plastics, clothing, and metal from landfills.
Compostable vs. Biodegradable… ugh
We live in a world filled with complicated plastics, which include plastics #1-7, bioplastics, degradable plastics, and compostable plastics.
When people ask me recycling questions about San Francisco’s programs, I sometimes get funny interpretations. “That is combustable, right?”, “Yes”, I say, “it’s compostable”, meaning, it is acceptable in San Francisco’s green compost collection bin.
Plastic manufacturers are trying to green plastic packaging and capitalize on greenwashing. Consumers are still trying to grasp recycling basics and when you add biodegradable and compostable plastics to the mix, it just adds to the confusion. I often field questions from our customers who inquire about different products and their recyclability. “Can I compost my wheat-based kitty litter?”, “How about my biodegradable diapers, if there is no poo?”, “My fork says biodegradable, can I put it in the green bin?”
The answer to all of these questions is “no”, they are not acceptable in the green compost bin.
New “green” products and plastics are the cause of much misinformation and confusion. The sales pitches, acronyms and poor labeling are so overwhelming that consumers say “I just throw everything in the recycling bin.” This is not what recycling companies want to hear.
The following are some examples of terms and phrases used in the “green/bio” plastics industry.
- Biocompostable
- New generation of plastics
- Made from corn
- Taterware, Spudware or Greenware
- Renewable raw materials
- “Feels and look like plastics for the most part”
- ASTM D6400
- Polylactic Acid (PLA)
Regardless of what the manufactures claim, let’s learn how to properly sort plastics into the correct recycling, compost or trash bins.
Compostable Plastics or items certified as ASTM D6400 compliant are “capable of undergoing biological decomposition in a compost site…” (I spared you the longer version from the American Society for Testing & Materials or ASTM). Their definition of compostable ASTM D6400 compliant plastics goes on to say, for a plastic to be called “compostable”, they need to meet three criteria. They must:
- Biodegrade
- Disintegrate, and
- Have no eco-toxicity
In short there must be no toxic residue left after the material is composted, it should look like dirt.
Biodegradable plastics that do not meet ASTM D6400 standards usually contain some plant based/“bio” plastics or additives mixed with real plastics and are not compostable or recyclable in San Francisco’s recycling programs. Yes biodegradable or bioplastics may be greener or contain less petroleum based plastics, but once you mix plant and petroleum plastic resins you can not separate them, recycle or compost them, they go to landfill (San Francisco’s black trash bin). Biodegradable plastics are designed to break down into smaller pieces of plastic outside of a landfill; they never “go away”. We already have enough smaller pieces of plastics in our oceans. Do we really need more?
I advocate for zero waste everyday and hope that everyone can begin to think in the same way. When determining what type of plastic to purchase (recyclable, compostable or non-recyclable) or any type of disposables for that matter, remember the basics (reduce, reuse, and then recycle). Ask yourself:
- Do you really need the disposable product? What alternatives exist?
- Can the product be replaced with something durable or reusable?
- What is the end use or recycling options for plastics?
In San Francisco and most communities that have a three bin system, sort your plastics as follows:
- Biodegradable plastics = landfill or trash
- Compostable = compost
- Recyclable (non-compostable or non-biodegradable) = recycling
WASTE ZERO everyday.
Seriously, No Trash-Picking on the Sidewalk
In the first three months of 2010, Recology recieved around 1,300 reports of people stealing from *your* recycling. Although there are law in San Francisco and throughout the U.S. that make recycling theft a crime, there are people out there without perspective on this.
It’s not just recycling. All over the country, dumpster divers and sidewalk pickers leave a mess behind them. A picture is a thousand word, and this one, from http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/cwnevius/detail?entry_id=59275&o=1#ixzz0idpR0xdd is the best illustration of the problem.
Trash invaders beware. In Pawtucket, Massachusetts, the city is took extra measures to ensure that the citizens of that city understand how seriously they are taking the law. Now, trash and recycling thieves face fines ranging from $100 to $500. That should make anyone reconsider if it’s worth it to go after those five cent bottles and cans…
Recology San Mateo County Introduces “Recycling Blitz”
Recology San Mateo County has officially launched their “Recycling Blitz” outreach campaign, giving commercial and multi-family customers a head start on the new services coming to San Mateo County on January 1, 2011.
Recycling Coordinators, or the “Recycling Blitz Team,” will visit every commercial and multi-family residence customer in the SBWMA service area that is not currently subscribed to recycling services, with the goal of implementing single-stream recycling. The SBWMA service area includes: Atherton, Belmont, Burlingame, East Palo Alto, Foster City, Hillsborough, Menlo Park, Redwood City, San Carlos, San Mateo, Unincorporated San Mateo County and the West Bay Sanitary District.
Single-stream recycling allow customers to place all recyclable materials (paper, plastic, glass and aluminum) into one container. The current system requires customers to separate bottles and cans from mixed paper and cardboard, otherwise known as “dual-stream.” The new service will be provided free of charge to customers who are subscribed to garbage collection service.
Recology San Mateo County is very excited about our plans to employ single-stream recycling. We know that businesses and multi-family complexes will benefit greatly from the convenience and simplicity of the program as well as the potential cost savings, and that will result in reaching our goal – to increase recycling participation and achieve the highest level of diversion from our landfills.
The more customers recycle, the less they throw in the garbage. This can potentially reduce their garbage service level, thus lowering their costs. It’s just smart business! Commercial and Multi-Family customers who would like to take advantage of Recology San Mateo County’s single-stream recycling services are encouraged to contact them at greenyourbiz@recology.com or (650) 595-3900.
Recology Volunteer Event Smells like Roses
153 Recology volunteers dedicated Saturday, June 26th to the beautification of the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden. The event was a major success due in large part to the announcement that the garden is competing for recognition as America’s Best Rose Garden.
Together, the volunteers planted 51 rose bushes purchased from the $1,880 donated by Recology employees to the Friends of the San Jose Rose Garden. Among the activities during the event were deadheading spent blooms, weeding and spreading 100 cubic yards of compost throughout 5.5 acre site. As the temperature increased to 85°F, the 153 sweat and dirt covered gardeners persevered in cleaning up the garden, leaving the site more beautiful than when they arrived.
Terry Reilly, co-founder of the Friends of the San Jose Rose Garden, produced a 6.5 minute video on our volunteer event. The video captures the essence of the day and reflects the true spirit of Recology employees. You can watch the video here: www.FriendsSJRoseGarden.org/photo_gallery.htm
The bottom line is that we are “People Reaching People” who give back to the communities we serve. The garden was just a wild patch in the city only three years ago. With your effort and your vote, the garden is well on its way to being recognized as “America’s Best Rose Garden.”
Help the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden achieve the coveted status of America’s Best Rose Garden by casting your vote for it: www.rose.org/voteform.
Art at the Dump: Twenty Years of the Artist in Residence Program at Recology
 |
Recology, Intersection for the Arts, and Hub Bay Area are pleased to present the exhibition, Art at the Dump: Twenty Years of the Artist in Residence Program at Recology at Intersection 5M. This exhibition celebrates the twentieth anniversary of the art and education program at Recology San Francisco, a one-of-a-kind initiative that enables artists to work with materials taken directly from the city of San Francisco’s waste stream, while teaching the public about recycling and resource conservation. Art at the Dump presents a sampling of work made by some of the more than eighty artists who have participated in the program. Work in a variety of mediums—sculpture, photography, painting, drawing, performance, video, textiles, and musical composition—is represented, and often runs counter to traditional notions of what art made from found materials should look like.
The Recology Artist in Residence Program was established in 1990 at the same time that curbside recycling was being implemented in San Francisco. Conceived by artist and activist Jo Hanson, it was the most innovative component of an outreach plan developed by the City and Recology San Francisco (then known as Sanitary Fill Company) to educate people about recycling. Now twenty years later, the Artist in Residence Program has grown to include an Environmental Learning Center, an extensive tour program, a three-acre sculpture garden, off-site exhibitions, and has been nationally recognized and awarded as the only program of its kind in the country. Artists are provided with a stipend and a well-equipped studio to make artwork from materials they scavenge from the Public Disposal and Recycling Area (“the dump”). Artists speak to the more than 5,000 students and adults who annually attend the San Francisco garbage and recycling facility tours which focus on the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling.
“Throwing things away is an automatic action for many of us and I think art has a remarkable way of showing us the layers of our existence that our repetitive daily lives obscure” says former artist-in-residence David King. Though the artwork is incredibly varied, the connecting thread is that these were all materials that at one time passed through the hands of San Franciscans—things once with meaning or function, determined to no longer be of use. But as the artists demonstrate, much of what we throw away still does have the potential to be used.
The exhibition features the work of over fifty artists including Estelle Akamine, Ellen Babcock, Bill Basquin, Nemo Gould, James Gouldthorpe, David Hevel, Dee Hibbert Jones, Christina Mazza, Sirron Norris, Scott Oliver, Nicole Repack, Isis Rodriguez, James Sansing, Nathaniel Stookey, E. Banker White, and Noah Wilson. Work by artists who have participated in the Student Artist in Residence Program will be presented in the building’s café. A publication documenting the history of the Recology Artist in Residence program will be available for sale.
When:
Exhibition: July 21–September 25, 2010
Reception: Wednesday, July 21st, 6-8 pm
Gallery hours: Tuesday–Saturday, 12-6 pm; First Thursdays: 12-8 pm
Where:
Intersection 5M, In the Historic San Francisco Chronicle Building
925 Mission Street (at 5th Street), San Francisco, CA 94103
For more information:
tulip
rachrecycles
cOLeCo7e
darbyandjoan
make art
slidetozero
wastezerosf
art at the dump
recologysanmateocounty
leave a comment