In 2004, The City spent over $4 million on the recycling program and earned close to $1 million of that back through the revenues generated from recycling. Here’s how we did that year:

- 895 tons of paper was collected in the DC owned/leased facilities.  (That was 83% of all collected recyclables in the City.)
- 46,842 tons of recyclable materials were collected from commercial establishments in the District.  (That’s 8 times as much as much as what the federal government facilities collected.)
- At “Recycling Day” events, 109 tons of electronics, 200 lbs of recyclable batteries, and 375 lbs of cell phone accessories were collected.  

About 13% of the garbage we generated in 2004 was diverted from landing in landfills.  That’s not too shabby, but surely we can do better.  Recycling is one of the easiest things in the world.  The lion’s share of collected recyclables came from DC owned/leased facilities.  A point of pride for DC workers for sure, but it begs the question:  what’s going on in the private homes and businesses?  Enforcement is a tough issue.  DC’s Office of Recycling did close to 3,000 spot inspections in 2004.  The answer has to lie in both more enforcement and a higher level of self policing.  Along with better enforcement, recycling requires ongoing emphasis.  Unlike green buildings and renewable energy infrastructure, it is a daily lifestyle choice.  We have to remember to do it and reprogram our habits.

Needless to say, the benefits of recycling are pretty amazing.  For me the number one point is that we reduce garbage.  We all know this, but it is not necessarily meaningful in everyday life.  We don’t see our landfills, so while it resonates intellectually, it does not necessarily mean that much.  Recently, something jolted me into understanding why reducing waste is pretty important.  In an NPR story, an oceanographer described a giant patch of garbage the size of Texas (some estimate it’s twice that) that was discovered floating in the Pacific Ocean – between San Francisco and Hawaii.  The size of TEXAS!!!  It weighs millions of tons and is 80% plastic.  It made me wonder what space on the planet the junk I’ve thrown out over the last couple of decades is occupying? 

All of us generate some amount of garbage everyday.  It adds up, but we are blissfully sheltered from the reality of what’s happening.  Along with landfills, bodies of water become the resting places for our garbage, leaching chemicals into the soil, air, and water and changing ecology.  Recycling seems the very least we can to minimize the growing mountains of waste.  I’ve heard from people who spend time on the Anacostia River that 95% of the trash they see in the river is plastic bottles.  Because of these recent reminders I’ve made a personal pledge to recycle everything I can and avoid packaging anytime it’s possible. 

And of course the other major benefit of recycling is it keeps resources in the system longer.  One year the DC collected 3,000 lbs of tennis shoes at a special recycling event.  These were used to resurface a tennis court at a DC recreation facility.  Environmental ethics aside, now that’s just cool. 

We’re lucky in DC.  Recycling is made easy here compared to so many places in the country… heck, in the world.  The Department of Public Works crews come to us to pick up recyclable materials from a bin or cart the City gives us for free.  DC can only go so green if we don’t make the tight choices on a daily basis, and for most of us it does not get any easier than recycling. 

Need a recycling bin? Request one!  (202) 727-1000

For more info, click on the links below:
DC Office of Recycling: http://www.recycle.dpw.dc.gov
Great Pacific Garbage Patch: http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Ocean/Pacific-Garbage-Patch27oct02.htm

What you can Recycle?
 
Glass
Yes: Clear, brown, and green glass food and beverage containers (Lids and labels can stay on)
No: dishes, light bulbs, windows, mirror glass or cookware (They melt at a different temperature from glass bottles)
 
Metal
Yes: Aluminum pie plates, tin, aluminum, steel cans; labels can stay on.
No: auto parts, appliances, furniture and wire hangers.
 
Plastic
Yes: Water, soda, milk, juice, bleach, and detergent bottles and all narrow-necked or screw-topped bottles marked with a #1 or #2.  These include water, soda, milk, juice, bleach, and detergent bottles. (Remove lids and flatten the bottles to save space.)
No: plastic bags, plastic food wrapping, butter tubs, medicine bottles, bottles from automotive products, pesticides or other toxins, Styrofoam and toys
 
Paper
Yes: White and colored office papers, envelopes, forms, file folders, tablets, junk mail, cereal boxes, shoeboxes, wrapping paper, shredded paper/mail, magazines, and phone books. Newspaper (including inserts) and carboard boxes 
No: plastic-coated paper, pizza boxes and food-contaminated paper, tissue or photographs, waxed cardboard, cups/plates, milk or juice cartons

One person has commented on this article.

(1) Untitled
2007-11-14 10:19:14

One of the major pollutants is cigarette filters. In many a clean-up, cigarettes account for the majority of items yet not the majority of weight. In that patch of Texas in the Ocean, I bet billions of filters are wrapped up in that plastic.

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