Welcome to the Shoreway Environmental Center
SanMateo.Patch.com published a story about the students from Baywood Elementary School in San Mateo, CA. They were the first group of students to participate in the free tour of the solar-powered ReThink Waste Shoreway Environmental Center.
The students learned about the 4Rs, resource conservation, the CartSMART recycling, composting and garbage collection program, and met Recyclist, the talking robot made from recycled materials. The grand opening also featured haute couture fashion modeled by some of Recology’s zero waste staff. This fun field trip is more than an introduction to recycling.
Learning about resource conservation and a resource recovery program like CartSMART is essential in preparing students for the world they will inherit. Recently, the National Climatic Data Center, a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), published a graphic showing some of the significant climate anomolies and events that occurred across the world 2011. Among them were extremely hot weather in the United States and the United Kingdom, France, Spain Switzerland, and Finland, and torrential rain and floods across Central America, in Thailand, South Korea, Norway and Brazil, and unusually heavy snowfall in Chile and New Zealand. Extreme weather events are not only disasterous for those whose lives they affect, they are also expensive. The NCDC created a chart to illustrate the growing number of climate and weather disasters since 1980 whose costs exceeded $1 billion.
The connection between resource conservation, resource recovery and the climate is clear only to some. Fortunately, organizations like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have developed educational resources to help bridge the gap. Rethink Waste and the folks at the Shoreway Environmental Center and doing their best to fill in the rest.
Cupertino’s Environmental Recycling Day and Shredding Event
The City of Cupertino and Recology South Bay have teamed up to bring you an Environmental Recycling Day and Shredding Event on January 21st!
Location: Parking Lot A of De Anza College, 21250 Stevens Creek Blvd in Cupertino
Cupertino residents can shred their documents, drop off their yard clippings for composting and recycle e-waste such as computers, monitors and certain appliances. We will also accept reusable furniture, clothing and shoes as well as toys and play structures for recycling.
Unacceptable materials include painted or treated wood, mattresses and products containing toxic chemicals, such as paints, pesticides and fertilizers.
This collaboration between the city of Cupertino and Recology (it happens twice a year) is to offer a free drive-through, drop-off service for Cupertino residents in an effort to encourage extended use of products and prevent valuable resources from being sent to landfills.
Each household is allowed one trip, and unloading of materials will be the responsibility of the resident. Residents must also provide a current waste collection bill and personal identification such as a driver’s license to verify Cupertino residency.
For more information, call Recology South Bay, which serves Cupertino at 408.725.4020 or visit http://www.recologysouthbay.com.
Thanks for recycling!
A successful Coats for Kids drive made for a warm holiday
- Snow people made of old light bulbs
It’s been a great holiday. Cabinet and Lighting Supply in Reno, Nevada came up with a creative way to reuse old light bulbs. Many people rented or recycled their Christmas trees. For the fifth year in a row, Recology Vacaville Solano and Recology Dixon employee owners worked with a local agency to help a family in need have a special Christmas. The Recology Yuba-Sutter donated new blankets and tarps to the Red Cross and Recology San Mateo County collected coats for kids, teenagers and adults in six Peninsula cities and various drop off locations.
The Coats for Kids collection program concluded on Dec. 20th and Recology San Mateo County would like to thank the cities and residents of Belmont, Burlingame, Foster City, Menlo Park, Redwood City and San Carlos for their participation in this worthwhile program.
Residents in the participating communities placed coats in a clear plastic bag marked “Coats for Kids” next to or on the top of their blue recycling cart on their regular collection day for pick up by the Recology collection drivers. Collection containers labeled “Coats for Kids” were also placed at various locations throughout several communities and Recology’s office where residents were also able to drop off coats.
In just days, Recology and all participating cities in San Mateo County collected over 750 coats! The coats were then sorted by Recology staff and donated to St. Anthony’s Church and Samaritan House for distribution to those families in need.
Recology San Mateo County General Manager, Mario Puccinelli was glad to do it. “Recology has been providing our Coats for Kids Program for many years in the communities we service. It has proven to be a great program helping those in dividuals and families in need,” he said.
The Coats for Kids program is going to be held annually by Recology San Mateo County with the hopes of having more communities participate next year.
 Recology San Mateo County (Gino Gasparini) unloading coats at St. Anthony’s. |
 Left to right, Sandra Tinoco and Yvette Madera (Recology), Father Medina (St. Anthony’s), Sarah Prescott (Recology) |
 Tammy Del Bene on Santa’s lap along with the rest of the Recology crew and the Menlo Park Firefighters Association which was donating and distributing “Toys” that same day at St. Anthony’s.Left to right, Sandra Tinoco and Yvette Madera (Recology), Father Medina (St. Anthony’s), Sarah Prescott (Recology) |
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About Recology San Mateo County:
Recology San Mateo County was chosen in 2008 by RethinkWaste to provide recycling, compost and garbage collection services for its twelve member agencies. Recology’s roots in recycling go back to the 1920s in San Francisco, when garbage men, known then as “scavengers,” actively sought out alternative uses for refuse.
Recology SF Artist in Residence Exhibitions Jan 2012
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Terry Berlier: Even the Windmills are Weakening
Donna Anderson Kam: Beginning at the End
Ethan Estess: Stories from the Changing Tide
Three ideas for giving to kids this holiday season
It’s the holiday season. Black Friday and Cyber Monday have come and gone. And if you have children you are thinking of during this season, here are a few thoughts from Recology.
Do you know the company Green Toys? They make toys out of recycled milk bottles. There’s just one example of the innovative work being done by vendors to use recovered materials in their products.
Kaboose.com has a list of craft ideas to make from recycled and reusable material. There’s nothing like making things with kids to enrich their early life experiences.
In San Mateo County, you can also participate in the annual Coats for Kids collection drive. Recology San Mateo County will start collecting coats as part of the residential recycling service and will also picking up coats at special drop-off locations.
| Belmont: | Library: 1110 Alameda de las Pulgas |
Monday – Wednesday 10:00 AM – 9:00 PM Thursday – Friday 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM |
| Belmont: | City Hall: 1 Twin Pines Lane |
Monday – Friday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
| Belmont: | Fire Station: 911 Granada Street |
Monday – Friday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
| Burlingame: | City Hall: 501 Primrose Road |
Monday – Friday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
| Burlingame: | Fire Station: 911 Granada Street |
Monday – Friday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
| Foster City: | Recreation Center: 650 Shell Boulevard |
Monday – Friday 8:00 AM – 10:00 PM |
| Menlo Park: | Library: 800 Alma Street |
Monday & Wednesday 10:00 AM – 9:00 PM Tuesday 12:00 PM – 9:00 PM Thursday & Friday 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM Saturday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Sunday: 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM |
| Menlo Park: | Arrillaga Family Recreation Center: 701 Laurel Street |
Monday – Sunday 5:30 AM – 10:00 PM |
| Menlo Park: | Onetta Harris Community Center: 100 Terminal Avenue |
Monday – Friday 12:00 PM – 8:00 PM |
| Redwood City: | City Hall: 1017 Middlefield Road |
Monday & Friday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
| San Carlos: | City Hall: 600 Elm Street |
Monday & Friday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
| Recology San Mateo County: |
225 Shoreway Road | Monday & Friday 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM |
Recology Vallejo has collected children’s coats each year for the past eight years. The donated coats may be of any size but should be in good enough shape that a child can play, sit and go to school with a sense of pride.
All coats will be cleaned and then given to local children who are in need.
We look forward to your participation during the holiday season.
Meet us at the coast
You may have heard about the “Law of Mother Earth’s Rights,” which was added to Bolivia’s constitution this year. It gives nature, all types of ecosystems included, the same rights as people. Not only is it controversial for the economic and cultural consequences of how it may be interpreted, but also because it hastens us to ask profound questions about how we react to the very concept. Bolivia’s Foreign Minister, David Choquehuanca, told attendants at this year’s International Day of Mother Earth that, “In Bolivia we seek a return to balance, a harmonious life not only between individuals but between man and nature, so today must be a day of reflection of awareness of all to care for our Mother Earth and take timely means for our mother back to its natural balance.“
The final application of the law has yet to be determined. Will it mean that human beings will have to become vegan, or that mining will be outlawed? No one knows yet, although a company like ours certainly hopes it incentivizes the country to adopt recycling laws, or at the very least, non-dumping laws.
If these demands are perceived as too drastic, then it may be at least possible to take small steps.
For example, on Saturday, September 17th of this year, Recology Sunset Scavenger and Recology Golden Gate gathered together 50 volunteers to collect what totaled 6,840 pounds of debris during the annual Coastal Cleanup Day. Recology partnered with the Knights of Columbus, and Year Up to remove debris from a stretch of San Francisco’s city’s shoreline in the Bayview district. The debris ranged from microwave ovens to shopping carts, to truck tires and pretty much everything in between.
The collected debris was taken to our sort line for sorting and recycling when it was possible, and invasive plants were composted. We are proud to say that the clean up was a 100% zero waste event.
Round it up and recycle that plastic!
What a dedicated group of people can do
John Darling wrote a nice article for the Daily Tidings on October 15, 2011 about the beginning of something good. In Ashland, Oregon, at the annual Jackson County Plastic Round-up at least three good things happen, he wrote. “You get to dump a big load of stuff from your garage, you feel good about helping the planet, and you run into friends — or meet new ones — and get to chat with them.”
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Jackson County is home of the Rouge Valley Earth Day, the Bear Creek Festival, Rouge Valley Bird Day, and the famous Oregon Shakespeare Festival. This last weekend, though, citizens of Jackson County dropped off their plastic (excluding PVC pipe, vinyl, rubber, polystyrene or plastic with metal in it) and with the help of six Jackson County Master Recyclers, who are trained by Recycling Partners, Recology Ashland Sanitary Service and others, had their plastic sorted, shipped and shredded for reuse.
“It feels really good to get rid of this stuff.”
The event only happens once a year. Therefore, gardners, hobbyists, and others have a chance to recycle plastic and be good stewards of the planet, although many already find reuses for the material. Many of them said it felt good. Last year, Jackson County residents rounded up about 25 tons of plastics.
Where does the plastic go? In this case, it goes to Portland. Our own Risa Buck, a Zero Waste Specialist at Recology Ashland Sanitary Service said that some of the plastic will be made into very durable railroad ties.
Risa emphasized that recyclers don’t make any money from the Round-up, but we do it “because it’s the right thing to do.”
Meet Recology – Our Commitments
This summer, Siemens found that San Francisco outranked all other major cities in the U.S. and Canada in the area of environmental performance. It’s perfect score in the area of garbage, recycling and compost was due to a progressive public-private collaboration between the City of San Francisco and Recology, which was founded in San Francisco.
What makes Recology an outstanding performer of course is not just its roots. Recology is a company with commitments to the communities where our employees live and work because we are part of those communities. And we work hard—protecting our environment is serious work—but we also try to have fun.
For example, Recology Vacaville Solano was present at the Vacaville Fiesta Days Parade this past May, where the Recology Drill Team earned a First Place award in the Drill Team category and the Recology vintage garbage truck won Second Place in the Antique Car category. Recology’s Buddy Blue Toter was also a winner, taking home the First Place award in the novelty category.
Last month, as title sponsor at The Bite of Oregon, an annual festival in Portland’s waterfront organized by the Special Olympics Oregon, one Recology employee personally made sure that 400 pounds of cooked, delicious chicken leftovers from the event were donated to 3 different rescue missions.
On August 23rd, over 40 employees from Recology South Valley volunteered to clear the bike path near Gallop Drive, all the way up to Thomas Grade in Morgan Hill, California. For two and a half hours, starting at 8AM, the group raked, shoveled, and swept the bike line, clearing it of dirt, weeds, and garbage. The reason for the project was that a group of Recology South Valley employees approached their general manager about doing something for their community. These employees had read about a project in another community served by Recology and wanted to organize something for their customers, neighbors and friends.
Obviously, we care about what we do, but its also nice to be recognized once in a while too. A reporter for the Morgan Hill Times quoted the City Program Manager, Anthony Eulo, saying, “[W]e appreciate Recology’s volunteer energy and commitment to our community… We know that the residents passing East Dunne everyday will enjoy the cleaner street.”
We are proud of the work we do to make this planet a better place to live, for all of us.
Fall 2011 AIR Show at the San Francisco Dump
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Zero waste event puts a sustainable Oregon on the horizon
Recology coordinated the sustainability component of this year’s Bite of Oregon, a benefit for the Special Olympics Oregon held in Portland on August 12th, 13th and 14th of this year.
The zero waste event was a success. 99% of the materials discarded over the three day period were diverted from going to a landfill. Last year’s diversion rate was 81%, which is not bad at all. Achieving 99% diversion is more impressive though because this year’s Bite had over 40,000 visitors from both near and far.
What does a zero waste success mean?
It means only 260 pounds of true waste were generated and sent to a landfill. Among those materials were soiled shrink wrap, soiled aluminum foil, wrappers, non-compostable packaging and baby diapers. It means the event was clean from start to finish, facilitated by great communication, education and effort.
It means that beyond the 99% diversion, over 1,200 people took the Recology pledge to reduce, reuse, recycle and Recologize™! There are now 1,200 more people who understand what we mean by WASTE ZERO.
At our company we really value team work. It’s what makes it a great place to work. Besides being a great team-building experience, there were several people who took leadership roles at the Bite who deserve a shout out. Steve P., Dan Van D., Leo A., Mike D., and Robert Ro. are rock stars.
Get in touch with us via our Recology Portland website to learn more about what we can do together!
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