I want to start recycling...?

Question

I live in the small town of Zapata, Texas in southern Texas. I want to begin recycling in my town, like maybe starting at the golf course and eventually taking it to the schools. I would like to recycle glass, plastic (bottles and bags), aluminum, paper, and whatever else is recyclable. Problem is I don't know how to start and if it does work out, I wouldn't know where to take the recycled things. Help?

Answer 1

You can make compost by putting all tea/coffee bags , fruit and veg, grass cutting. Put all of these in an bin , but keep turning it over and you will have your own compost..

Answer 2

put your junk in the garbage or just call your town for some info?

Answer 3

You could start composting on your own or try to get community involvement. Compost turns into great soil for plants etc. You may find that there is a garden center near you that already composts and you could take your stuff there or they may assist you in starting a program.

If your town doesn't have a recycling center that the first step is to get one. Start a petition, raise awareness about the issue and then go to your town board meetings, ask for an appointment with the mayor. But make sure you have your facts before you go in. You can find a ton of information online about both the costs and the benefits of establishing a recycling center. I know this may seem like a daunting task but I bet there are lots of people in your community that would like to recycle but someone has to get the ball rolling and that person can be you. Good Luck!

Answer 4

you just have to call your town and ask them where to trake it and they should tell u where to take it to.

Answer 5

what a good heart you have for recycling.. if only 50% of zapata were like you, then you could start recycling...

Answer 6

type "recycle Texas" into a search engine, and you might come up with links like the following:

http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/assistance/P...

You'll have to do some research to find where to haul what you recycle, and what they will take.  

My local community does not have any recycling facilities.  I have to haul some items 35 miles, and others 107, and I still haven't located sites to take some kinds of things.  

Good luck.  I'm out in West Texas near New Mexico.

Answer 7

As others have suggested, you may consider starting a community compost, though be sure to research this as some thing are unsafe for composting on a small scale (such as meat). I would also recommend that you phone around to other communities near where you are and see if they recycle and who does the recycling for them. Either you can arrange something with them, if it's a private company, or you can discuss some sort of recycling "pick up and delivery" and service. Good luck!

Answer 8

If you do not have recycling in town, organize others to get a move on. Now one of the most effective ways to get recycling done is to start with the green bin, so that food scraps do not go into the garbage, so do not make it stinky or unsanitary.

There will always be farmers or ranchers eager to accept the output of this project, and it immediately means that regular garbage collection frequency can be cut to monthly or less.

Having removed all bio-degradable material that can become plant food, your next step should be to stop using any compaction on the rest of the garbage. Have it taken to a sorting facility such as that used in Kitchener-Waterloo Ontario.

(The sorting process requires that it not be compressed.)

At the sorting facility, things readily recycled are streamed for immediate recycling sale. Some materials for which no recycling facilities exist can be piled separately, rather than taking them to landfill. Later there may be a facility or, and this is important, you will realize how much of a particular kind of waste you are accumulating  you will have a reason to offer people why they should start being more selective in what they buy or accept.

Long term the objective has to be to bring to town nothing that we have to send to landfill, nothing at all.

There will be things like brick and mortar, stone, that sometimes go to landfill that we will never recycle, but they also do not need to be 'landfilled', they can be used where fill is needed.