WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH (fill in the blank)? RECYCLE? TRASH? COMPOST?
Susie Milam (aka the Garbage Goddess)
Nearly every day I ask myself this question. The Resource Recovery website has a menu item that asks that question, but it didn’t have an answer for the first item I listed. There are many things that are not recyclable now, so I have no choice but to throw them into the trash. But what happens when the City goes to their Zero Waste program in 2040? Yes, that year seems like a long time off, but it’s coming. So what about Styrofoam meat trays, carry-out containers, and packaging? What about used baby diapers? What about foil-lined plastic potato chip bags? What about waxed cardboard milk cartons? What will happen to those when Zero Waste is the goal?
Bob Gedert, Director of Austin’s Resource Recovery operation, will be at NACA’s January 21, 2016 meeting, and everyone will have the opportunity to ask him about particular items.
EVERYONE, PLEASE BRING ONE QUESTIONABLE ITEM to the meeting and ask him “What should I do with this now, and what will happen to this in 2040?” I have a huge plastic wrapper that I think came off a king-size mattress. I found it wrapped around a metal fence near Research, and I put it in my car. But what do I do with it now? Dare me to bring it???