apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I’m on the HOA Board for a 22-unit building. Our trash service has supplied us with a bin for recyclable items.

At first it filled fast. But two years later I fear the novelty has worn off.
But I also know some folks from the neighboring building bring their recyclables over to our bin. Happy to share if we’re preserving the environment a bit at a time.

The depressing thing is occasionally while visiting with my neighbors I see them tossing recyclables in their regular trash.
One woman went to toss a glass wine bottle and I blurted, “That could go in recycling!” before I even knew it was out of my mouth.
She looked at me sheepishly and said, “Yes I suppose it could.”

I think I may post more recycling guidelines in our common areas to encourage them.

I think mostly, because our units are small, most of us don’t have space for two trash cans.

I keep my garbage under the kitchen sink… and I have a cute galvanized metal tub (generally used for icing drinks in the courtyard) on my kitchen floor to receive recycling.

AT has inspired me though… and I’m going to propose a joint composting bin for food waste.

And then just continue to nag!

hi
i'm interested in more detail -
just one bin for recycling? does the company sort it off site?
how much is 'minimal'?
thanks!

i just moved to chicago and have had a frustratingly impossible time recycling. i live in a 2-unit building in which the other occupant has no interest in recycling.

i do not have a car, but have on occasion tried to borrow one from a friend to take my recycling somewhere. but then there is the question of: where? every place i've tried has been more of a commercial recycling center, and have acted as though my 3 or 4 bags of recycling were a huge imposition.

i've made many attempts, but i can't give up yet. right now i save it all and store it in the basement, but it is piling up quickly and i don't know what my long-term plan is. i would like one of the blue bins, but it seems like it will be a few years before my neighborhood (logan square) gets those. what am i supposed to do?

i don't feel that i should have to pay to recycle when it is a free service in nearly every other city in america. i also can't afford it! chicago should be encouraging all households and businesses to recycle; right now they are making it incredibly difficult.

My 16-unit condo building also does not recycle! Bad! I'm working on them!

But I just recently discovered a recycling center near my house. I don't have a car so it can be a pain but I am close enough to walk to this place. This particular center doesn't accept plastic (they told me there's a place in Evanston that does) but I can walk my glass & paper up there every week or so. Here's a list of other residential recycling centers:

http://www.chicagorecycling.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=105

M.M.

I don't know about Chicago - but in my city - the bin outside my building (which we pay for!) and those at other businesses etc... are listed on a city website as drop off sites.

We've observed complete strangers dumping their recyclables in our bin... and as long as they follow the city guidelines, I guess we don't care. (that's how we found out we were posted as a drop off site!)

So my suggestion is to scour the web for nearby drop off sites and see if there is a building near you that accepts them.
If not, maybe you'll notice one while walking your neighborhood... approach the building manager and see if they would mind sharing.
CC

m.m. - try the Chicago Recycling Coalition website:
http://tinyurl.com/nlk27

There is a link to several drop off locations in several neighborhoods for household recycling.

I have just begun this quest since my building doesn't offer recycling services. I am going to try to separate my recyclables and drop them at out the Household Products and Electronics Collection Center on Goose Island. I just don't trust the blue bag process!

I just talked to our recycling provider about acceptable items.

Since I recently read that plastic bubble packaging (the stupid and wasteful impervious shells that computer memory and toys are sold in…) is only accepted if there is a 1 or 2 is inside the chasing arrows (triangle) I asked him about the others.

All higher numbers indicate the number of recycle lifetimes the plastic has already been through.
He told me these cannot go in the recycle bins. Where can I take them? No where really. They only deal with those on the East and West coasts and getting them there from Denver is highly cost prohibitive.
We all need to work on solutions to make recycling more accessible.

My cousin owns a freight logistics company.
I’m going to ask him to think about what he can do.

@ Meg B. (and anyone else interested)

i actually live around the corner from one of the sites listed on that card (kosciuszko park) and i was taking it there for a while, but one day the gigantic bin disappeared! i tried going to another one that was sort of close (portage park), but that one wasn't there, either! i feel like these centers, much like the blue bags, were never actually recycling the contents.

those locations are both green/park dots on the map, though, so perhaps soon i will try my hand at one of the blue/city facility dots, though they require the use of a car for me because i am NOT taking all of my recycling on the bus (though i've considered it).

in the mean time, i'm writing to my alderman.

That's rotten! It's very frustrating to put forth effort and have it just go to waste.

I would love to know the statistics as to how much of recyclable matter (via either blue bags and drop sites) actually gets recycled.

I bring it to work. The company that I work for (Caterpillar) has a recycling bin in their employee parking lot. At home, we have two Simplehuman trash cans. One can is for the garbage that will ultimately end up in a landfill, and the other is recycling. I sort it once I get to the bin.

"All higher numbers indicate the number of recycle lifetimes the plastic has already been through."

Not exactly. A higher number may indicate that (tho I've never had a chemist or chemical engineer specializing in plastics offer that as an explanation). It also can indicate a "thermoset" plastic that cannot be remelted and reused. It can also indicate that the "plastic" is instead a composite material of many layers that would be impossible to recycle.

As far as sorting recycling goes, we have 2 trash cans designated for recyclables. They're white, which I don't like. I grew up with the township provided recycle bins being blue, so I find it easier to remember that recyclables go in the blue can.

I also grew up with fines if you *didn't* recycle. Newsprint, cans, glass, plastic 1, 2 and 3, and any non-glossy paper that hadn't been used to clean up food spills or biohazards. Styrofoam and plastic bags weren't included in the township recycling, but a local grocery store chain collected them. Downed trees, pruned branches and other garden waste could be picked up at curbside or dropped off at the township recycling center. Same for broken large appliances and damaged furniture. Residents could pick up as much city produced mulch (produced from the garden waste) as they cared to haul away, for free.

i want so badly to have recycling in New Orleans...it really kills me everytime I throw away cans and bottles...Unfortunately the powers to be don't see it as a necessity...

This month's Fast Company has Chicago listed as the fastest growing Green City, thanks to all the stuff Daley has done. However, as I read it, all I could think about was how we have no recycling program to speak of - or the one that is actually in place is woeful. I live in a 24 unit building and I don't think anyone recycles. A few used to use the blue bag program, but we were under the impression it had been discontinued or just didn't work.

I was actually just recently trying to figure out a way to make this work in our building. I will be checking back for any suggestions. Thanks.