What’s in Your Blue, Green, Grey Bins?

 

This workshop is part of our partnership with the Sharp Park Library to drive actions based on books. The Sharp Park Library had chosen PBC as part of the Garbology project.

 

Take a moment to consider the makeup of your waste bins on trash day. During this workshop on Tuesday March 6th, you will learn about:

 

• What goes into the gray, green and blue bins.
• Common recycling mistakes
• About the Recycling Yard, and where you can recycle electronics.
• What happens after the trash leaves Recology.

 

What could an observer learn about you by inventorying what is left curbside for garbage pickup?

Likely, someone could determine where we shopped, what we ate (or didn’t eat), who sends us junk mail, and which subscriptions we have. Could an observer learn more? Like modern day middens (trash heaps of yore), our trash tells our story to whomever takes the time to look through our bins.

We are fortunate to live in a part of the world that encourages recycling and makes it easy to tell our stories using three simple bins: grey, green, and blue. Thank you, Recology and Colonel George E. Waring before you, for making this so easy!

But where do our bin contents go?

The waste-to-energy movement, as Edward Humes describes, has never gained a solid foothold in the U.S. Like Puente Hills in the San Gabriel Valley, many landfills now take up real estate across the nation. In July 2016, Salon published this article by Reynard Loki that discusses our national waste and recycling habits. According to his research based on the EPA’s reported numbers, the average American produces a prolific 4.4 pounds of waste per day and recycles and composts about 1.5 pounds! Included in this publication is an eye opening (read: jaw dropping) time-lapse map of U.S. Landfill locations and their size over the past century. While presenting some sobering numbers, thankfully Loki ends on a positive note by sharing 10 things we can each do to minimize our 102-ton legacy.

Do you want to learn more about what happens to local waste after it is picked up on trash day? Please RSVP at on the Sharp Park Library’s website to join us 

Tuesday, March 6th at Sharp Park Library

 

(Seating is limited.)