Recycling Volunteers?

We could always use some new volunteers for the recycling. I'll leave a sign up sheet by the recycling.

Just a few requests about recycling. We appreciate that most of you now are a bit more respectful with your recycling deposits.

Some things should not be put in the recycling bin: blue glass, drinking glasses, coffee mugs....and of course lids on the glass.

Someone is leaving shopping bags, but we are not collecting those either. If that person wants to volunteer to help bring those back to a store that collects them, then that would be great.

Thanks again for your participation.

Trash Chute Etiquette

Some things you should know about the trash chute, in case you were not aware.

1. Do not put cardboard or large items in the trash chute. This includes pizza boxes. Cardboard is very rigid and clogs up the trash chute causing problems for all of us. Even if you fold up cardboard, it will unfold in the chute and cause problems.




2. If you have cardboard or other large items, you will need to bring them down the stairs on the west side of the building to either the trash room or the recycling bin on the first floor. If you decide to use the recycling bin, please remove your plastic and Styrofoam and break down your box.




3. If the trash chute is backed up, do not leave your trash in front of the trash chute, or jammed in the trash chute door. This looks extremely bad, and is unfair and unsanitary for the residents in that part of the building. Please take your trash down to the trash room on the first floor.

Recycling Bin

If you've been on the first level (west) you've probably noticed there's a new industrial recycling bin down there. It's for cardboard only.

This will help both the environment and clean up the hall where recently there have been a lot of cardboard boxes deposited.

Please break down your boxes (flatten), and take out the Styrofoam and plastic inside.

Also, please do not put any trash or non-recyclable material in the bin.

Recycling Update

The recycling is coming along a lot better. People are rinsing the food and beverages out of their recycling, and this is keeping us a lot cleaner, and there are less flying insects around the bins. Thank you!

One concern I will bring up is that people are putting their cardboard by the bins. I was taking it out to the dumpster outside, but now it is locked and there is no access to it. Neither Wendy nor I have the ability to carry all that cardboard to the recycling center. Also, it is cluttering up the hallway a bit, so I'm going to ask that you either throw away the cardboard or take it yourself.

Some people are leaving small boxes of things like magazines, and I don't have any problem with this. I can take that stuff as long as it's not too big. thanks again for your participation and cooperation!

Four Bins for the Recycling

Once again, I'd like to thank Wendy and Krista for their time with this project. It looks like we're getting a decent level of participation, and that's great. There have been a few changes, and we have a few requests.

As you can see in the picture, there are now four bins. This will save us a lot of time separating the four items we are collecting.

In the picture, you can also see some signs requesting that the items be rinsed out, and that no trash is included. The last batch was a little better, but there were still some trash included (napkins, plastic wrappers, hot pockets boxes, plastic packaging) which we had to separate from the recyclable items, and throw away. Also, a lot of the beer bottles and cans are not getting rinsed out which attracts a lot of bugs and causes everything to stick together. Please remember us when you deposit your recycling. It's not pleasant to spend a lot of time pulling trash out, getting sticky from old beer, and having fruit flies flying all in your face.

Thanks again for your participation.

Some Do's and Don'ts for Recycling

I've just returned from the recycling center, and I have a few requests for those of you participating in the recycling program.

• Clean the food out of the containers - Leaving old food in cans and plastic containers; jars with food inside and the lid on; beer cans with beer in the bottom; etc. smells really bad and attracts bugs to the building. Not to mention it's nasty for us to handle.

• Only include plastic that can be recycled - Plastic must have a triangle with a number on it in order to be recycled. (link to previous post) Do not include things like plastic wrappers, cheese wrappers, flavor pouches, milk cartons, old pens, etc. All this is trash, and we have to take it out and throw it away.

• Do not put steel cans in with the aluminum - Cans for beans, tomato sauce, corn, chili, etc. are made of steel and go in the other bin. Only beer and soda cans, and foil should go in the aluminum bin.

• Get rid of the lids - Do not put lids back on glass jars and do not include bottle caps from beer bottles

I took back our aluminum today, and got $3 for our 9 lbs. of recycling. Not much, but it's a start. Krista is treasurer for the recycling fund, and will hold the money until the residents decide how to spend it.

Big Response to the Recycling Program

Wow! Good job Motor residents. It has only been about a week, and the recycling bins are overflowing. We'll empty them this weekend, so keep on recycling.

I'd like to clarify a bit on what can be recycled. Most plastics with a number surrounded by a triangle can be recycled, however, things like plastic wrappers (for example the plastic that comes around your case of bottled water or cookie wrappers) cannot be recycled. Some parts attached to the plastic bottle cannot be recycled either. One example of this would be the pump-spray mechanism on something like a detergent bottle. If it doesn't have a recycle number on it, discard it. Also, #6 plastic cannot be recycled. I think this is styrofoam, but I just thought I'd mention it.

Grocery bags can be recycled, however, we are not taking those at this time. If you want to recycle those on your own, a lot of stores have collection bins for them, so you can save them up by putting them inside one bag, and taking them to the store when you go.

We did get some grocery bags in the last batch, and we're going to leave them next to the blue bin in case you want to use them to separate some of your recyling when you get down there.

Please, no milk cartons, they are made of paper.

We can still use volunteers to help take back the recycling if anyone is interested.

Recycling Update

The Recycling Committee (Wendy, Krista, and Chris) have decided that we will now accept

• Aluminum
• Steel
• Glass
• Plastic

If you can, please separate the steel, plastic, and glass into separate bags (like plastic shopping bags) that way it will be easier to sort at the recycling facility.

Please, however, no bags of plastic bags.

As always, everything should be rinsed, and the cans preferably crushed. Jenni is going to try and work on getting a can crusher installed next to the blue recycling cans.

We have now divided the blue cans into two distinct entities. One will be used for aluminum only, and the other will now be used for the steel, plastic, and glass.

If you have any other recycling ideas, leave a comment below, on the Motor Lofts Facebook page, or contact someone on the recycling committee.

Our Recycling Program is Underway!

Thanks to Krista, we now have two big bins in the basement for recycling cans. All she asks is that you rinse and smash your cans.

The blue cans are located on the first floor by the trash room near the door where you walk out to the surface parking.

Eventually, I think we should try to recycle more, like: glass, steel, and plastic but for now we're going to see how this works.

The money we collect for the aluminum will go towards some future Motor event - perhaps a BBQ or party - so start recycling today for the environment and a future party.

The Recycling Comittee consists of Krista, Wendy, and Chris. Basically this means we are volunteering to take the recycling back every now and then. If you would like to help out, contact one of us.