BETTER AT THE BIN
The largest global buyer of recycled paper and plastic, China, is no longer accepting shipments of recyclables from other countries, which ultimately affects everyone. Learn how you can help - at the bin!
Better At The Bin is our call to action in response to this growing challenge of too much trash, and its impacts on our environment.
THE KIDS GET IT AND THEY WANT US TO GET IT TOO.
We are in a recycling crisis, and our kids know it. They want us ‘grown-ups’ to recycle, compost, and refuse plastic to make their future world safe and healthy. To celebrate Earth Day 2019, Recology paired up a group of SF elementary students with mural Artist Sirron Norris and gave them a big white canvas. Checkout their video below.
BETTER AT THE BIN COMES TO THE CLASSROOM
Calling all teachers and students. After you watch the video, download the Better At The Bin Zero Waste Coloring And Puzzle Book and join Sirron and his team to get the message out for everyone to be Better At The Bin. The book features Sirron’s artwork for coloring and word puzzles to sharpen our recycling and composting knowledge. Also a Classroom Guide sharing the details of the Better At The Bin mural story.
BETTER AT THE BIN
THE AVERAGE AMERICAN GENERATES 4.4 POUNDS OF TRASH A DAY, THE MOST OF ANY COUNTRY
Better at the Bin is sending less to landfill.
While many US cities are turning away from recycling, Recology is doubling down by investing in equipment and programs to facilitate and encourage residents to keep on recycling and composting.
- $14 million upgrade of Recycle Central at Pier 96
- New infrastructure – $19 million transfer station for compostable material
- Larger recycling bins and smaller trash bins for residential customers
- More investment in outreach and education
- Tour 5,000 guests a year, mostly students
BETTER AT THE BIN
STARTS WITH YOU
AMERICA IS HOME TO MORE THAN 2,OOO LANDFILLS
It’s time to be better recyclers and smarter consumers.
It’s plain and simple, we humans create too much trash. The statistics are staggering but you can make a difference. Recycling and composting are more important than ever. Here are a few simple tips to create cleaner recyclables that will help us reduce landfill and produce clean materials for manufacturing.
Better At The Bin means no liquid or food in the blue bin.
- Empty cans, bottles, and containers before recycling. It keeps paper in recycling bins drier so more can be recycled. Higher-quality paper bales generate revenue that helps pay for curbside collection programs. Those economics benefit everyone.
- Compost all food scraps. It returns nutrients to local farms that, in turn grow the healthy food we eat. Farmers use compost to grow cover crops that pull carbon out of the air and return it to the soil where it belongs.
- Keep it loose. Put recycling items in the blue bin loose, do not use a plastic bag.
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
MAKING BETTER CHOICES
GLOBALLY WE USE 500 BILLION PLASTIC WATER BOTTLES A YEAR
Be part of the solution by refusing 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.
- 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 stores give discounts to people who bring their own bag.
- Buy loose fruits and vegetables when shopping for produce. Decline produce packaged in plastic.
- Opt for reusable containers. to store food and for lunches.
- Refuse single-use plastics whenever possible: plastic bags, plastic straws.
- Support local shops and bulk stores.
BETTER AT THE BIN IS
BETTER FOR OUR PLANET
IN AMERICA 40% OF FOOD GOES TO WASTE
Composting can help save the planet.
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 keeps materials out of landfills. That saves landfill space and reduces landfill gas emissions, such as methane and other potent greenhouse gases.
- Returns nutrients and minerals to farms to keep soils fertile. Healthy soil equals healthy plants. Healthy plants equal healthy people.
- Helps protect top-soils from erosion, an increasingly important thing to do.
- 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.
- Creates three times more jobs than landfilling.
- Helps cities make progress toward achieving Zero Waste.
Remember to reduce, reuse, recycle, and REFUSE.
