Way to Waste Not, Wallingford! The results for the second month of the 
Think Green Recycling Challenge have been released, and the Friday North route – Wallingford’s day of the week for garbage and recycling pickup – is in first place.
The Recycling Challenge runs from October 3, 2011 through March 31, 2012. The neighborhood(s) in the winning Waste Management route will win $50,000 to spend on improvement projects.
Recycling Challenge Results. Scroll to the bottom of the linked page to see the chart and numbers that reflect the Friday North route’s success.
How does Waste Management calculate those numbers? The core measurement is the diversion rate (a percentage) which is calculated using tonnage weight for each waste type:
(Recycling + Food and Yard Waste) / (Recycling + Food and Yard Waste + Garbage)
The ultimate goal, zero garbage, would result in a diversion rate of 100%. So the higher the diversion rate percentage, the better.
For the Recycling Challenge, WM takes the tonnages for recycling, food and yard waste, and garbage from the first day of the competition, October 4th, 2011, through the last day of the most recent month*. Then they compile tonnages for the same time period in 2010.
Those tonnages are used in the diversion rate formula above to generate a diversion rate percentage for 2011 (year to date) and one for 2010, matching the same dates used in the 2011 data.
The 2010 diversion rate is then subtracted from the 2011 diversion rate. The larger the positive difference, the better, as it shows that the percentage diversion away from landfill-bound garbage is increasing from last year to this year.
*It is important that the data for each WM collection route include the same number of service days, so the “last day of the month” will generally be a Friday closest to the calendar end of the month.
Is there any way this can help us get weekly recycling pickup? The bins on our street are consistently overflowing every other week. Ours are insanely full right now. We have several boxes full of extras to leave out due to the snow. They’re going to hate us.
As noted in a prior posting about the pickup delays, the city doesn’t have the funds to pay for weekly pickup, but will be transitioning to 96 gallon carts (instead of the current 64 gallon ones) over time. You can request a larger recycling container yourself. Call 684-3000 or go to http://www.seattle.gov/util/Services/Recycling/Recycle_at_Your_House/ManageyourRecyclingService/index.htm
Flatten everything that goes into your cart. Get off junk mail and phone book delivery. Buy in bulk, avoid single-serve packaging. It all helps.
Barb, recycling guru: I thought I could recycle my bread bags but upon reading my 2012 guide, I realize I can’t, even though they say they are recyclable. Any ideas? I save them for reuse but it gets a bit overwhelming. Thanks!
This is one reason why plastic bags are such a problem – so few of them, even in Seattle, are recyclable. According to the SPU’s “Ask Evelyn,” the only plastic bags we can recycle are newspaper bags, dry cleaning bags, and grocery/shopping bags. And those bags can’t be just thrown one by one into your recycling bin, they need to be stuffed into one bag and tied shut. Single bags get tangled in the recycling machinery.
Any plastic bags that may come in contact with food – bread bags, produce bags, ziplock bags, frozen food bags – can not be recycled. Food residue and moisture from these bags can contaminate other plastic materials.
I have seen instructions on the web for knitting, weaving, or braiding tote bags or throw rugs out of bread bags. Or you can always make a Plastic Bag Monster costume.
Main thankies for the weblog.Really getting excited about read more. Would like more.