Beth writes in that she recently spoke with the City of Decatur’s Lena Stevens about Latham Home Sanitation’s recycling guidelines, and “long story short, pizza boxes with minimal food contamination are now acceptable to recycle here in Decatur.”  She also notes that the city’s recycling webpage has been updated to reflect the change.

My wife also recently noted that envelopes with plastic windows are also now accepted.  (That wasn’t the case before, as I recall.)

I’m trying to get clarification regarding milk cartons, since they aren’t on the city’s lift, but the PDF flyer on the website clearly shows a picture of an OJ and milk container under “paper”, even though they aren’t listed.

 

Emily sends along this note about the rescheduled “Recycle Your Life” event at First Baptist on June 5th, from the editor of Southeast Green…

Remember that event where you could basically recycle almost everything you ever wanted to? And then it snowed. Well I dare it to snow on June 5th : ) In fact if it does, we will never plan it again ; ) We’ve brought in some new vendors and are waiting on a couple more to get back to us so make sure you check the list so you know what we are taking.

We are also looking for some volunteers if you feel like you can help. Decatur is helping with traffic support because they are expecting such a large turnout : )

For further details, including a list of what will and won’t be accepted for “recycling” at the event, click on over to the “Recycle Your Life” website.

Impressive!  Vincenzo writes in…

Since this features the Decatur recycling logo so prominently, I thought it might be of interest. My son, Giovanni, is 11 years old and a 5th grader at Glennwood Academy. He’s been producing videos since he was five, and has recently taken an interest in stop-motion.

It definitely looks like something the city might be interested in using.  Perhaps on the recycling page once the website redesign is complete?

Say good-bye to this familiar sight…

Over on The Decatur Minute, Cheryl announces the installation of two new solar-powered trash compactors in front of both Starbucks and Java Monkey.  (No love for Dancing Goats?)

Also, and this will make Altmod happy, the city is installing “new and more visible recycling bins.”  Click over to the Minute for a couple pics.

Apparently, even the AJC can’t believe the sheer, unbridled green-ness of our city.

In detailing the decrease in the cost of our trash pickup this year – thanks to an increase in recycling rates (first reported on the Decatur blogs) – the AJC’s April Hunt starts her article with three little words: “Only in Decatur.”

Damn straight!  And just wait ’til the city unveils its trash-powered Delorean police cars (thanks Doc Brown!)…then everyone will marvel in our unsustainable growth rate in sustainability initiatives!

But seriously, major props go out to everyone in decreasing the amount of trash we generate as a city by 40% since the implementation of the “Pay-As-You-Throw” program.  You are truly professional recyclers.  But, this is no time to get cocky and rest on our bins.

Due to the lack of demand for recyclable materials thanks to the global recession, the city warns that this fee decline could only be temporary.  Why?  Because our partner in recycling – Latham Home Sanitation – is having a harder time selling these materials on the back end.  So that means someone has to pick up the loss-of-revenue slack.  And the suppliers (us) are the only ones left.

Therefore I join the city’s efforts to reemphasize the first two actions of that age-old, overused adage “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”.  So I ask you gentle readers, in what ways do you actively “reduce and reuse” to decrease the amount of garbage (be it trash or recycling) that goes on to the curb?

I’ll get the ball rolling and state the most obvious: reusable grocery bags.  Additionally, we’ve recently begun using washable dishcloths instead of disposable sponges.

What else should I be doing?