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Bear-proof recycling bin

Recycling and Bears, Oh My!

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Bear-proof recycling binBears may be cute on wildlife posters, but they weren’t helpful with recycling efforts for one group. Plenty!, a Food Pantry in Floyd, Virginia, takes what is considered waste – from farms, grocery stores, restaurants, etc. – and turns it into food to feed hungry people.  Last year Plenty! shared 117 tons of food with more than 1,937 individuals, working to lessen food insecurity and isolation through its Food Pantry, Portable Produce, Organic Farm and Gardens, and Community Lunch programs in their southwest corner of the Commonwealth.

However, one by-product of the grocery store recovery effort is the hundreds of pounds of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET 1) plastic deli containers from donated food that are disposed of every week. Although that type of plastic is recyclable, they could not collect and store the empty containers due to one rather large, threatening reason: BEAR! They could not keep the empty food containers outside because they didn’t have anything large enough and strong enough to hold the plastic that wouldn’t be vulnerable to bears destroying while attempting to get to the used plastic containers.  It bothered them that the clamshell containers had to be put in the trash.

So they applied for a Green Grant from Keep Virginia Beautiful, and were awarded $750.00 to help solve their bear problem. They purchased a “Haul All Equipment Bear Proof Trash Can” and installed it outside of their Food Pantry in July, 2020.

Since that time, they have been able to collect three garbage bags full of #1 recyclable plastic each week for recycling! Kerry Ackerson, Executive Director of Plenty! said that they are now able to recycle the countless deli clamshells and other #1 prepared food containers that are donated to their food pantry each week by their local grocery store and university dining halls.

We thank you Plenty! for the work you do in your community, and for your recycling efforts! It’s a beautiful thing!

Trash in Storm Drain

When in Doubt, Throw it Out

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This seems like harsh words when you think you’re doing a good thing by recycling everything you possibly can. But Kim Hynes, Executive Director of Central Virginia Waste Management Authority, tells us that even though we have good intentions, we can cause more harm than good. The problem is that one bad item (contaminate) can spoil the whole bin.

What is recycling contamination? There are several ways this can happen. One, it’s when the wrong kind of recyclable item is placed in a bin with other kinds of recyclable items. For example, when a curbside program doesn’t accept No. 6 plastic items, but you throw in a Styrofoam plate without realizing it’s not accepted. It reduces the quality of the other recyclable items. Kim Hynes says, “The value of a ton of single stream would increase at least 15%-20% if there were no contaminants.”

Another common problem is “wishful recycling.” It’s when you set a recyclable plastic bottle next to a trash can at the park because there’s no recycling container nearby. Chances are it will blow away, get flattened, and end up under a bush for someone to pick up later. (*Better to take it home to your own recycling bin than to leave it next to a trash can!) Or if you toss in a piece of plastic packaging into your bin when you can’t find any marks indicating it’s recyclable, but you’re hoping someone on the other end of the line will find a good purpose for it.  While you can sometimes score extra points for effort, not here.  This is a case for, “When in doubt, throw it out.”

Speaking of litter cleanups, be thorough when you’re picking up items from the landscape and off the roadways. A bottle that has liquid left in it needs to be emptied before it’s added to your recycling pickup bag. And if a plastic bottle or aluminum can is muddy, crushed, or seriously deteriorated, it is no longer capable of being recycled into a useful product, and must be added to the trash bag also.

I hope you’re doing your part to recycle items that can be made purposeful again; and I hope that you’re recycling with knowledge and care!  Questions?  Let us know!

RMA 1

RVA Recycles Day Sees Record Numbers in 2020

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Each year Keep Virginia Beautiful and Retail Merchants Association team up to bring a free recycling event to residents of Richmond and the surrounding counties. Typically held in November, 2020 was the first year we decided to switch it to an Earth Day event — which was then cancelled, like all others, due to COVID. With restrictions easing and a plan to minimize contact, Retail Merchants Association, Keep Virginia Beautiful, Goodwill, TFC Recycling, and ProShred made plans to host the event on September 18.

With the threat of rain moving out that morning, citizens began lining up to bring their electronics to be recycled and documents to be shredded nearly an hour before the event started at 10AM! It’s no wonder the steady flow of cars continued until 2PM — the event was the first of the Fall community recycling events to take place, and after a Spring where all were cancelled, people were ready to turn in their saved recyclable items. To that end, both ProShred and Goodwill expressed this was among their most successful events ever!

Just for comparison, last year we processed 9000 lbs of paper and 3200 lbs of electronics; and this year we topped 15,000 lbs of paper, and 5500 lbs of electronics. That’s amazing!

So even with all the restrictions of things we cannot do during COVID, recycling is something we all CAN do!  Thank you to all who care and know the benefits of recycling, and came out to this annual event.  We hope your house is a little less cluttered!

Check out our calendar for future recycling and socially distanced cleanup events being planned for the Fall.

Recycling Arrows

Ask the Experts About Recycling

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We are fortunate to have a talented Board of Directors for our organization.  Two Board members, Kim Hynes, Executive Director of Central Virginia Waste Management Authority, and Tad Phillips, VP Business Development at TFC Recycling, recently presented at the (virtual) Virginia Green Travel Conference.  They spoke about the recycling industry and how we need to pay attention as the world changes and adapts to supply and demand.  They assured us that the recycling infrastructure is alive and fully functional.  And they shed light on some common recycling myths.  Here are a few.

You may have thought that if the product has the familiar “chasing arrows” on it, you can automatically put it in the recycling bin, right?  Wrong!  Just because a product has the arrows on it DOES NOT denote it’s recyclable.   You can learn more about these labels online at How2Recycle.

Another widely debated topic is whether or not to toss the cardboard pizza box in with the recycling – yea or nay?  Interestingly, there was a 2020 study published by WestRock and Domino’s Pizza called (appropriately enough) the Grease Cheese Study.  WestRock concluded, “Therefore, there is no significant technical reason to prohibit post-consumer pizza boxes from the recycle stream.”  However, you still need to consider issues of mold or critters if you leave a greasy cheesy pizza box in your garage or outdoor container for two weeks until the recycling container is emptied.

Above all, it’s important that you make the effort to learn the guidelines for recycling in your local area.  But one consistent fact is that avoiding contaminants is critical to all recycling!

– DO NOT put recycling items in plastic bags, or throw plastic bags in with your household recyclables;

– DO NOT INCLUDE items that could become tangled, such as wires, hoses, cords, or clothing;

– DO NOT INCLUDE food waste or liquids;

– DO NOT INCLUDE electronics or batteries.

We’re grateful to have Kim and Tad on our Board, and hope that you’ve learned a few things from them too.

Green Grants Logo

Here are the Thirty Green Grant Awards for 2020!

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Congratulations to this year’s thirty Green Grants awards! As our program grows each year, we have so many more deserving projects applying for grants. We had a record number of applications this year, and the judges had a difficult time choosing! We are grateful to our judges for all the time they spent reading, evaluating, and scoring the grant applications. They are experts in their fields, and we appreciate their talent!

Since 2011, Keep Virginia Beautiful has provided $254,500 for 320 different projects throughout the state! We’ve awarded grants to urban areas, rural counties, historic parks, and municipalities — places as diverse as the Commonwealth herself.

The 30 in 30 Green Grants program demonstrates the power of volunteers and people who have the desire to make a difference in the communities where they live. And the impact of the projects and programs they carry out is multiplied by the number of people who see, and hopefully follow, their example. We are proud to be part of this impact, and we are grateful to our partner Altria, along with additional support from Coca-Cola and Keep America Beautiful.

Here is a recap of the 2020 award winners:

June 1: Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage

June 2: Plenty!

June 3: Augusta County

June 4: Keep Prince William Beautiful

June 5: Substance Abuse Free Environment

June 6: Accomack – Northampton Planning District Commission

June 7: Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions

June 8: City of Salem

June 9: Tech for Troops

June 10: West Piedmont Planning District

June 11: Petersburg Battlefields Foundation

June 12: Chesapeake Environmental Improvement Council

June 13: University of Lynchburg

June 14: Hampton Roads Planning District Council

June 15: Williamsburg Classical Academy

June 16: Hopewell Youth

June 17: Keep Henrico Beautiful

June 18: Virginia State University

June 19: Naturally, Newport News

June 20: Town of Scottsville

June 21: Keep Southwest Virginia Beautiful

June 22: Blue Ridge Conservation Alliance

June 23: Communities in Schools Hampton Roads

June 24: Friends of Bryan Park

June 25: Staunton River State Park

June 26: Halifax County

June 27: Broadwater Academy

June 28: Keep Suffolk Beautiful

June 29: Center for Natural Capital

June 30: Renew Richmond

 

                  

Meet Our Panel of Judges 30 in 30 Green Grants

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We just completed announcing the thirty grant winners for the 2020 Green Grants awards on June 30th, and we are thrilled with the success of the program this year.  There was a record number of applications, as well as some unique programs and projects that will be happening all over the Commonwealth.

The Green Grant awards could not take place without the hard work of our judging panel , such a talented group!  We want to thank them for their expertise, knowing that it takes a lot of time to read and score the grant applications, and take today to recognize them here.  Thank you so much!

Community Beautification

Lane Guilliam, former KVB Board member, Wilton House Museum
Nancy Heltman, Dept. of Conservation and Recreation
Eunice Kulesza, Senior Environmental Compliance Specialist Fareva
Chris Vassey, Esquire, Thomson Reuters, KVB Board member

Litter Prevention and Cigarette Litter Prevention

Carol W. Doss, former KVB Board member, Keep Southwest Virginia Beautiful
Kris Ferguson, Recycling Coordinator, Ferguson Environmental Consulting
Suzanne Taylor, Financial Responsibility Programs Coordinator, Department of Environmental Quality
Julia Hillegass, Agricultural Reserve Program Coordinator, City of Virginia Beach

Recycling

Chris Conley, Vice President of Environment, Health, Safety and Stewardship, Afton Chemical
Lisa Moerner, Director Corporate Public Policy, Dominion Energy
Douglas Sharo, Senior Program Manager of Sustainability, WestRock
Cathy Warner, GHD Engineering Consultants
Julie Williams-Daves, Technical Specialist, Dominion Energy

Halifax County Awarded $500 Green Grant for Recycling

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The Halifax County Quality of Place Work Group is made up of 20 community leaders who volunteer to help their county be the best it can be. This group implemented initiatives like community volunteering to plan and carry out cleanups and beautification projects.

During their Community Clean Up Day, they realized the severity of their littering problem, and now hope to influence change within the community through education and new recycling opportunities.

With a campaign called “It’s in the Bag,” they will use their farmer’s market to start a litter-free and recycling culture in Halifax County. There will be Litter Prevention Stations at each county farmer’s market that offer recycling opportunities, such as reusable shopping bags, a plastic bag recycling receptacle, educational materials, and a list of crafts that children can make with plastic bags.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!  Way to go Halifax County!

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$1,000 Green Grant Goes to Friends of Bryan Park for Recycling

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Friends of Bryan Park is a nonprofit organization founded in 1994 to protect and improve Bryan Park, a 266-acre park in Northside Richmond. Its members are residents, environmentalists, Master Naturalists, and recreation users. Several hundred people visit Bryan Park each day, yet there are no recycling facilities in the park. Grant funds provided by Keep Virginia Beautiful will be used to start the Bryan Park Recycling Program.

Friends of Brian Park will place recycling bins where the trash cans are filling up every week, including the soccer fields, near park entrances, and at picnic tables. They will have a weekly schedule to collect and sort the contents of the bins. The recyclable goods will be taken to the Parker Field Recycling center, or sent to TerraCycle, if the collected products are not able to be recycled locally.

Good luck to Friends of Bryan Park and their volunteers that are helping conquer the litter problem!

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$1,000 Goes to the Town of Scottsville

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The Town of Scottsville is awarded a $1,000 grant or their Recycling project.

Environmental goals are important to the community of Scottsville. In 2016 it was the first Bee City in Virginia, promoting native pollinators in its parks.

To continue with improvements to their streetscapes, they will use their Green Grants award to initiate a recycling program. They will purchase marked recycling bins to go beside existing black trash bins that are located near parks, convenience stores, and at intervals along pedestrian paths. This will give citizens the opportunity to recycle many plastic bottles and aluminum cans that previously would have been sent to the landfill.

Congratulations Scottsville!  Keep up the good work!

 

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Williamsburg Classical Academy is Awarded Recycling Grant

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Williamsburg Classical Academy is Awarded a $500 grant for to implement a Recycling program!

Williamsburg Classical Academy is a collegiate model education program for the independent and home-school education community. Because they don’t have a recycling program in place, they will use their grant to equip each room with a recycling can, install a large recycling bin in the room where the students eat, and create a recycling contest to inspire students and parents to recycle. The program will also include recycling education strategies and tips for recycling, and games to teach younger students the benefits of recycling.

While the programs are primarily for the students, they hope to get their families involved in the habit of recycling at home too.

Congratulations to you!

 

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