Recycling Tips

[Billy]

IMPORTANT: Cardboard is NOT recycled curbside. If you put cardboard out it gets taken away, but not by the recycling peeps, the garbage peeps take your CARDBOARD AND IT GOES TO LANDFILL unless you physically take it to a recycler. The only one I know of is on Commercial off Kirman just north of the river (what's left of it). BTW, this includes egg cartons which we always used to add to our recycling. Take them to the recyclers!

Recycling takes a tremendous amount of energy so in many cases it's not the best solution. REUSING is the best way to go. Would be great if we could get fresh, cage-free, organic brown eggs locally and bring our own containers. Lots o' waste, them egg cartons.

The City of Reno just re-announced OUR curbside recycling program. Here it is in all its glorious shortcomings

Residential Curbside Recycling Guidelines Yellow Bin - Aluminum food and beverage containers; ; Ferrous (Iron) cans; PET plastic containers with the symbol #1 – with screw tops only, without caps; HDPE natural plastic containers with the symbol #2 – narrow neck containers only (milk and water bottles); HDPE pigmented plastic containers with the symbol #2 – narrow neck containers only, without caps (detergent, shampoo bottles, etc.) Green Bin - Glass food and beverage containers - brown, clear, or green
Brown Paper Bag - Newsprint; Magazines; Catalogs; Mail

When I lived in the Bay Area we had the way too small green and yellow bins, too. That was 25 years ago. For more than a decade most major cities have given residents TWO large, green bins. One for garbage and one for recycling. Everything goes in the recylcing bin: glass bottles, mail, cans, plastic, cardboard. It all gets sorted anyway and most things aren't recycled anyway. Think your plastic bottle is getting recycled just because it has a triangle on it? Nope. Very few do.

[Billy]

BATTERIES can be recycled at Batteries Plus or Whole Foods.

[Dave Baker]

Here's a google map to the cardboard recycling location on E. Commercial Row: MAP
Here's what it looks like from the corner of Sutro looking West: Street View
Dumpsters are on the west side of the building.

[Kathleen]

Yes, I was shocked upon moving to Reno after living in green cities such as Portland and Seattle. We were so used to recycling *everything* every week! After unpacking moving boxes here the first week in Reno, our family carefully flattened and stacked all the boxes next to the recycling....only to watch as the garbage truck workers picked it up! I went out to talk to them about what was garbage and what was recycled...they said most people didn't know about the cardboard.

It only took a minute looking on the internet to find a recycle place for cardboard nearby. Here is the one I use since I live north of Reno. I just store the everything in my garage and load up the farm truck every few months to take things into town...it's amazing how much collects even though I try to buy things in lesser packaging!

Earth First Recycling Incorporated
[phone]
9600 N Virginia St, Reno, NV 89506
Cross Streets: Near the intersection of N Virginia St and Red Rock Rd (I take Lemmon Drive, then turn right on Virginia)

P.S. Take off the caps to your water bottles or they won't get recycled!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Dave Baker]

Billy said:

BATTERIES can be recycled at Batteries Plus or Whole Foods.

Here's a google map showing the above locations: MAP

[Billy]

Sadly, most plastic bottles are not recycled. Often it's because of the glue on the label. Mostly it's that only the black bottom soda bottles are recycled. We should look into this more.

Kathleen said:

Yes, I was shocked upon moving to Reno after living in green cities such as Portland and Seattle. We were so used to recycling *everything* every week! After unpacking moving boxes here the first week in Reno, our family carefully flattened and stacked all the boxes next to the recycling....only to watch as the garbage truck workers picked it up! I went out to talk to them about what was garbage and what was recycled...they said most people didn't know about the cardboard.

It only took a minute looking on the internet to find a recycle place for cardboard nearby. Here is the one I use since I live north of Reno. I just store the everything in my garage and load up the farm truck every few months to take things into town...it's amazing how much collects even though I try to buy things in lesser packaging!

Earth First Recycling Incorporated
[phone]
9600 N Virginia St, Reno, NV 89506
Cross Streets: Near the intersection of N Virginia St and Red Rock Rd (I take Lemmon Drive, then turn right on Virginia)

P.S. Take off the caps to your water bottles or they won't get recycled!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Craig Bergland]

We need some serious re-use projects, and the collective input to expand these projects.
Wrote a blog on my webpage a couple of days ago on re-using tin cans. (no, I'm not trying to hustle the site, it's just where I put stuff...) It's at votebergland.org, and the blog is titled Bug Out Bags. Tin can use is about 1/2 way down. Would sure like to get more ideas on how to reuse them. Don't be put off by the rest of the blog, I am an Early Peak Oil Doomer, and I guess it shows.
Also, the next blog down shows how to build a recycled solar cooker, which was free except for the black spray paint.
Offering these because as a radical recycler it is important to share concepts IMHO.

Billy, this page is pretty easy to use, thanks!
Maybe I'll get daring and try to upload some pics....
Craig