Recycling or Composting

In hearing what is going on in our school lunch rooms and talking about how the kids are served lunches, it seems like a tall mountain to climb to get any real movement on recycling in this setting. Understanding the tons of non-recyclable packaging that goes into the lunch programs that makes its way to the landfill is depressing. Even if we can get recyclable packaging that is recyclable, who is going to clean it?

I think there are two obvious answers here. One is going back to cafeteria style that reuses the plates, cups, and utensils like we did when I was in grammar school or going to compostible packaging along with a legal methodology of dealing with the compost.

If you go to Canada, you see three bins, not two (Garbage, recycle, and compost). When it comes to carry out foods we need to switch gears to composting and leave the recycling to paper, bottles, and plastics that are used in other consumptions.

In conversations with our Environmental Commission members they were asking why are there not more recycling containers in our downtown area? Well, lets examine what is thrown out at Port Clinton for example. If it is mostly food or food contaminated plastics and paper. What would go into a recycling bin ? The bought water bottles that we are asking folks not to buy? What we really need is to get our merchants to use compostible products and get compost bins to toss this stuff in... Right?

We are making headway in increased ways for businesses and multifamily units to recycle. We still use tons of paper, plastic bottles, and cartons that we need to recycle, but when it comes to food waste, composting seems to be the answer.

Tell me your thoughts!