Increase Household Recycling Using New "Single Stream" Program
Submitted By: Bart Carr (bart_carr@yahoo.com)

Challenge
Weekly curbside recycling has been available for many years to Lamorinda residents. Recycling bottles, cans, newspapers, and other household recyclables has become almost second nature for many of us. For my family, recycling is part of our weekly routine. However, improvements to the curbside recycling program has made a big difference to my family’s recycling habits!

In 2005, "single stream" recycling was introduced to Lafayette and other Lamorinda communities. With single stream, our recycling carts were improved. The central divider in the burgundy cart was removed allowing paper and containers to be mixed. This effectively increased the volume of the cart since the paper side always filled up before the bottle & can side. Single stream also expanded the types of materials that could be collected for recycling. The variety of paper was expanded to include junk mail, magazines, and even paperback books. More importantly, a wider variety of plastic containers are also accepted, including tub containers, shampoo bottles, buckets (without the handles), and much more!

My family quickly found out that single stream recycling was a real opportunity to increase recycling in our household!


Solution Details
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With the new single stream recycling program in place, it became clear that my family needed to determine which recyclables now accepted by the single stream program were still being tossed out with our garbage. We decided to do an “audit” of our household waste to see what was in it. Doing a waste audit of your garbage might sound a little gross but it actually wasn’t that bad. We selected the most used garbage containers in the house, laid out some newspaper, and poured the container contents out onto the newspaper. We analyzed our garbage by first separating what is recyclable with single stream (using the User’s Guide) from what is truly refuse. The refuse went back into the garbage can. The remaining recyclable items were further divided into the basic categories of paper, glass, metal, plastic, and food waste (that could be composted). We were surprised to find out that a significant amount of material was being thrown out that was actually recyclable in the single stream program! This included junk mail, small paper boxes, like those that contain pasta and breakfast cereal, a variety of plastic containers, aluminum foil, and some tin cans. We also found a lot of “film” plastic, like plastic grocery bags, in our garbage. This kind of plastic cannot be placed in the recycling cart, but fortunately, the local Safeway grocery store collects plastic bags and other film plastic for recycling at both entrances!

Armed with the information from our audit, we became more aware of what we were throwing away and what was recyclable. Our goal became to maximize the amount of recycling we do every week to keep our garbage disposal to the very minimum! We keep a single stream customer guide from the recycling company handy to refer to if there is any confusion about what is recyclable. Plastics still remain the most confusing because most plastic containers have the little recycling triangle on the bottom. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the container is recyclable. In the single stream program, plastic containers with the recycling triangle containing the numbers 1,2,3,4,5 and 7 are all accepted for recycling.


Benefits & Payback
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By maximizing the amount of material we recycle, we are reducing our garbage disposal. Our four person, one dog, two bird household disposes of 10-20 gallons of refuse per week while recycling 50-60 gallons! This means we are recycling 70% to 80% of our household waste each week, as compared to the current recycling rate of 48% for Lafayette! There are also financial benefits to recycling. Because of our efforts to recycle, my family uses the smallest (and least expensive) garbage service available. I pay $16.99 per month for the 20 gallon "mini" container rather then $19.99 for the 32 gallon, or $39.17 for the 64 gallon garbage container. So my family is saving $266 per year, as compared to neighbors on our street who still use the 64 gallon garbage can!

We could even make some money by saving all the aluminum and plastic beverage containers that have “California Redemption Value” (5 cents for beverage containers less than 24 oz., 10 cents for containers 24 oz. or larger) and taking them to a local recycling center for redemption value payment.

Finally, recycling helps fight climate change. The www.climatecrisis.net website estimates that we can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide a year by recycling half of the waste that we create! We are proud that we are meeting and exceeding this goal. And the good news is that by maximizing use of the new single stream recycling service in Lafayette and the Lamorinda communities, anyone can do it!


Informational Links
www.wastediversion.org – Local info on single stream and Users Guide
www.cccrecycle.org – General Recycling info in Contra Costa County
www.climatecrisis.net – The “Inconvenient Truth” website
www.ciwmb.gov – CA Integrated Waste Management Board
www.consrv.ca.gov – California Redemption Value for Beverage Containers
www.plasticbagrecycling.org – Plastic Bag & Film Plastic Recycling info


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