[Update: Check out the Procter Neighborhood Website for the latest on Procter Recycles.]
We got off to a great start! Three neighbors joined me in recycling in our first week, bringing our MPG-per-household up from 20 to 80! Instead of each of us making the five-mile round trip to the 35th St recycling center, we sent four families’ recycling to the drop-off on .25 gallons of gasoline! Think of it like car-pooling, only you don’t have to sit that close!
We also picked up some recyclable litter along the way.
Along with the benefits we’ve created, I got to meet new neighbors. It was great to meet Abby and Billie this week! Abby contributed her recycling – thanks Abby!
So far we’ve talked to neighbors on S. Park Ave. and S. Proctor Pl. between Winner Rd. and Linden St. Next week, I’ll add S. Fuller St., S. Vassar Ave, S. Norton Ave, and S. Scott Ave., also between Winner and Linden. If you’re outside that range, please leave a comment below, and I’ll be happy to include your block!
Again, don’t worry about sorting. Simply gather up your recyclable materials in whatever way is most convenient, set it out on the curb by 10 AM Saturdays, and we’ll do the rest!
Remember, if you have any questions about what’s recyclable, check here.
Want to get involved, share your ideas, or just shout out to your neighbors? Leave a comment, don’t be shy!
You might not have noticed, but the city takes alkaline batteries!
Hey, I found this link through your flickr page – good for your neighborhood in getting this set up! Gloria and I take our recycling every week or two to the center on Vista Drive, but I’ve never even thought about trying to organize something with the neighbors. I’ll have to mention that to her.
I’ve noticed that in the time we’ve been doing this (about a year or so) it’s amazing to see the amount of trash we can actually recycle. It’s gotten to the point that I put our dumpster out every 2 or 3 weeks vs. every week. Like you, we pay for the yard waste dumpster and I don’t use it all that often, but I do love the convenience. I was just complaining the other day that I hate spending $140 for trash service, especially now that we don’t use it as often. I wondered aloud whether or not there would come a time where you could pay for a less frequent pickup at a reduced rate.
Also, nice job finding some place that takes the glass! We don’t have a whole lot of glass to recycle, but it’s good to know that it’s out there. If there’s anyone we can call or write to to voice our support of a partnership between the city and Bridging the Gap, let me know – I’d be happy to voice my support.
Have you found any place that will recycle anything other than #1 or #2 plastics? We’ve been saving our pill bottles for a while now and would like to be able to recycle them as well.
Thanks Dave! In the meantime, you’re welcome to bring your recycling by my house on Saturday mornings.
We got started recycling in Kirksville, more than ten years ago. The trash service charges increased as volume increased, and curbside recycling was free — a very progressive approach.
The word I had on the plastic was that Independence currently accepts anything–no restrictions on resin code. They haven’t updated their website since they dropped Deffenbaugh.
The City Manager’s office is looking into the possibility of working with BTG on glass recycling. You can e-mail John Pinch and Robert Heacock at the City Manager’s office to voice your support.
The only thing I use the lawn waste bin for now is the sticks and branches (and the poison ivy I’ve been battling this year). I have a collapsible bin that I chuck stuff in as I can, and right now I have an open compost pile in the back yard. I’ve been thinking of getting a compost bin like this one.
I take coffee grounds and kitchen scraps out to the compost in the evening, and come back with tomatoes from the garden. It’s a nice routine.
I wish I’d planted more vegetables this year. Imagine how many miles our produce travels to get to us! Our farmer’s market hasn’t been too impressive this year, though. I might try River Market instead. There are some programs elsewhere in the metro that let you buy locally-grown produce throughout the growing season. I’ll post something when I find out more. I know Hen House has a program, but I wish we could get Hy-Vee to do it.
Ok, I e-mailed both of them to express our support for the idea. Hopefully that helps!
We want to start planting some things too next year – it’s sad how much they charge for produce, and the local Hy-Vee’s produce department leaves a lot to be desired. Half the time they’re out of at least one thing that we’ve gone after, or it’s sitting there rotting on the shelf. Plus they’re terrible about pulling expired product. We’ve complained a few times, but it doesn’t seem to matter.
Now’s a great time to start preparing the area where you’ll plant your vegetables. You can start by composting your kitchen scraps in that spot (although I can’t predict how dogs might behave around compost, come to think of it). Once fall comes, gather all your leaves there and mow ‘em over. The chopped-up leaves will slowly decompose to become leaf mould.
We’ve started using the compost machine in the back yard again, and we’re trying to do a better job of retaining the food waste instead of throwing it down the disposal. We haven’t talked about where we want to plant yet. Mom used to plant tomatoes by the driveway, but I’m reluctant to do anything that disrupts the grass by the foundation as drainage is typically tricky anyway.
Hello. Bill McLeod told me to look up your website. We live on Proctor Place.
For me, recycling has been a regular way of life for some time. I attended Bristol school where we had “paper drives.” I collected newspapers from every neighbor for as far as I was allowed to travel with my wagon. We bundled the papers with sisal string the school provided.
I was a member of the Van Horn Ecology Club. We had a regular weekend recycling event where we collected, sorted and sold enough materials to pay for a good portion of a trip to the Ecology Expo in Spokan, Washington.
That was a while back, but it certainly shaped my life and I continue to expound the virtues of recycling.
Currently, I share recycling duties combining my home recyclables with my business and business neighbors. Plastic, cardboard and paperboard can go to the 35th street site. It can also go to Kansas City’s Deramus site which is open Wednesday thru Saturday. They accept all the above as well as combined aluminum and other metal, and glass (sorted by color). I combine newspapers, office papers and magazines and drop them at Community Recycling container in the parking lot at Maywood Baptist Church since Procter School no longer has a container.
I take packing peanuts and foam and bubble wrap to Mail & More on 3601 S Noland.
HyVee at 40 & Noland recycles plastic bags.
Home Depot recycle (unbroken) compact fluorescent light bulbs.
Yard waste goes to Missouri Organic where I get mulch in bulk by the truck load.
Well, that’s about us.
There are many excellent resources for assistance with recycling.
Among others check our http://www.wastenews.com/
It is crucial to remember that although there is no immediate recycling resource for certain items, everything with a recycling identifier can be recycled. yes, all those cheese, butter and yogurt tubs or the #1 & #2 pill bottles mentioned earlier, are recycled by Deffenbaugh in Kansas (among other places). All you have to do is get them there.
Thanks for the tips! I just checked out the website for Missouri Organic (http://www.missouriorganic.com). It seems like an interesting operation. I’ll have to follow up with them!