Composting/Recycling Seminar by City of Austin: Recap

Did you know that 45% of our trash contains materials that could have been recycled? Our Castle Hill Green team was definitely shocked to learn that figure. Our mission as an organization is to research, educate, and implement ways that our business can specifically lessen our impact on the environment. On September 23rd, we invited the City of Austin Resource Recovery department to give an educational seminar about the importance of composting and recycling. The free event helped dispel some preconceived perceptions on what can/cannot be recycled and the information was too good not to share. (Did you know bio-plastics – also labeled corn-cups or green cups are not recommended in compost bins?) Below we have compiled our notes into four lists indicating what kinds of items go into the recycling bin, trash bin, and the compost bin.

RECYCLE Coffee cup lids Cardboard (unless dirty/wet, then compost) Straws (though the small ones will likely end up in the trash) Shredded paper (bag it) Cardboard boxes (tape is OK) Soft plastics/film (if bundled together) Toilet rolls Egg Carton (can compost also) Jars w/lids Shampoo w/pump Aluminum Foil Ziploc bags (bundled with films) Frozen fruit bags (bundled with films) Untreated wood	COMPOST Wood stirrer Sugar packets Paper coffee cups Wax paper Lint Meat (commercial only) Cotton balls Q-tips Parchment paper
TRASH Wrappers Styrofoam Bubble wrap Aerosol cans Razors Toothbrushes Zip ties Particle board Pyrex	HAZARDOUS WASTE Batteries Lightbulbs Motor Oil Paint Spray paint

Other notes: – Bio-plastics are not recommended for recycling, as they do not break down at same rate of normal compost and contaminate regular recycling – 10% contamination is acceptable for recycling – Broken glass should be wrapped and labeled before dumping Food for Fitness currently contracts a commercial composter and our staff collects the kitchen scraps in the back of the house. Beginning in October we will begin a compost pilot program in the front of the house. What about the gym side? After the seminar we realized just how much of what we use at the gym is recyclable and compostable. We currently offer single stream recycling around the facility but in the next month we will add composting to the men’s locker room. What goes in the gym compost bins? Paper towels and food waste mostly! All other items like plastic cups can go in our recycle bins. We have a goal to reduce our waste pick up days to just 2 a week (as opposed to 4 days/wk) and divert 90% of our waster from trash bins to recycle/compost bins respectively. Help us to meet this goal in 2016 – reduce, reuse, and compost daily!