BETTER AT THE BIN

IT'S TIME TO BE
BETTER AT THE BIN

THE AVERAGE AMERICAN GENERATES 4.4 POUNDS OF TRASH A DAY, THE MOST OF ANY COUNTRY

MOST OF THE MATERIAL BURIED IN LANDFILLS SHOULD HAVE BEEN RECYCLED OR COMPOSTED

90.5% OF PLASTIC IS NEVER RECYCLED

Better At The Bin is our call to action in response to the growing challenge of too much garbage and its impacts on our environment.

It’s plain and simple, we humans create too much trash. The statistics are staggering. Recycling and composting are more important than ever. We all need to be better recyclers and smarter consumers. We asked Zero Waste advocate Kathryn Kellogg to help highlight good green habits that make all of us “Better At The Bin.”

BETTER AT THE BIN
IS BETTER TOGETHER

GLOBALLY WE PRODUCE 3.5 MILLION TONS OF TRASH A DAY

Better sorting equals less to landfill.

While most cities are turning away from recycling, Recology is doubling down and upgrading infrastructure to support your efforts. If we all work together by modifying our everyday kitchen routines we can make a big difference. Kathryn Kellogg has a few simple steps that we can all take.

Better At The Bin means no liquid or food in the blue bin.

• 

  Empty cans, bottles, and containers.

  Liquids soil paper and cardboard and lower their quality. Only higher-quality paper bales help pay for curbside collection programs.

• 

  Compost all food scraps and soiled paper.

  Farmers use compost to grow cover crops that pull carbon out of the air and return it to the soil where it belongs.

• 

  Keep your recyclables loose and clean.

  Put recycling items in the blue bin loose. Please do not put plastic bags in the recycling bins as they jam recycling machinery.

When in doubt, find out.

There is a bin for everything we throw out. When in doubt, click the button below and find out which bin is the right one.

BETTER AT THE BIN
IS BETTER
FOR THE PLANET

IN AMERICA 40 PERCENT OF FOOD IS WASTED

Separating food scraps keeps recyclables clean

Don’t let your food scraps go to waste. Recology turns them into nutrient-rich compost that helps farmers grow healthy food that comes back to your table. Put all food scraps in the green bin to eliminate contaminating recyclables in the blue bin.

Composting can help save the planet.

1. Composting keeps materials out of landfills. That saves landfill space and reduces landfill gas emissions, such as methane and other potent greenhouse gases.
2. Returns nutrients and minerals to farms to keep soils fertile. Healthy soil equals healthy plants. Healthy plants equal healthy people.
3. Helps protect top-soils from erosion, an increasingly important thing to do.
4. Saves tremendous amounts of water. That’s because good quality compost is 50 percent humus by weight and humus is a natural sponge that attracts and retains water.
5. Creates three times more jobs than landfilling.
6. Helps cities make progress toward achieving Zero Waste.

BETTER AT THE BIN
IS REFUSING PLASTIC

GLOBALLY WE USE 500 BILLION PLASTIC WATER BOTTLES A YEAR

Be Part of the Solution. Refuse single-use plastics.

Single-use plastics and excessive and unnecessary packaging are everywhere. Bananas in plastic bags. Zucchinis on Styrofoam trays wrapped in film plastic. Say NO to plastic.

Here are four things we can all do to reduce plastic waste:

1. Refuse plastics. Refuse plastic bags, plastic straws and other single-use plastics whenever possible.
2. Carry a metal water bottle. Doing so can save you more than $258 a year because you won’t be spending money bying water in plastic bottles.
3. Carry a (metal) travel mug. We don’t need single-use coffee cups, which are coated with plastic, and single-use coffee cup lids, which are made of low-quality plastic.
4. Carry canvas tote bags when shopping. Doing so eliminates plastic bags, which can negatively impact the environment.

BETTER AT THE BIN IS
MAKING BETTER CHOICES

NEARLY ONE-THIRD OF THE WASTE GENERATED IN THE U.S. IS PACKAGING

Better At The Bin is our chance to drive change.

We have the power as consumers to send strong messages to the companies that sell us food and goods. Recology and the California Product Stewardship Council say vote with your consumer dollars. Decline single-use plastics. Don’t buy products made of multiple materials that cannot be separated.
Buy from sellers who significantly reduce or eliminate packaging.

Here are a few simple things we can all do to reduce plastic waste:

• Buy loose fruits and vegetables when shopping for produce. Decline produce packaged in plastic.
• Buy milk and juice in glass bottles. They get washed and refilled. That eliminates plastic bottles.
• Buy yogurt in glass jars, not plastic.
• Avoid products in packaging made from multiple materials.
• Support local shops and bulk stores.
• Opt for reusable containers to store food and for lunches and takeout orders.
• Refuse plastic bags, plastic straws, and other single-use plastics whenever possible.

BETTER AT THE BIN IS
BETTER FOR OUR FUTURE

1 TON OF RECYCLED PAPER SAVES 17 TREES

It’s time to be better recyclers and smarter consumers.

Adopting the simple actions highlighted here will reduce the amount of trash we send to landfills and incinerators. At Recology we understand how busy you are, and we are here to help. Better At The Bin is all of us working together.

Remember to reduce, reuse, recycle, and REFUSE.

• Refuse plastics. Refuse plastic bags, plastic straws, and other single-use plastics whenever possible.
• Carry a metal water bottle. Doing so can save you $258 a year.
• Carry a (metal) travel mug. We don’t need single-use coffee cups, and coffee shops offer discounts to people who bring their own travel mug.
• Carry canvas bags when shopping. No plastic bag required, and some stores give discounts to people who bring their own bag.

By adopting these simple solutions you will be doing right by your family, your wallet, and the environment. You will be part of the solution.