Reduce, Reuse and RecyclePractices of the City of Chicago and Beyond

By Amy Christensen

Women’s Thealogical Institute Intensive on EnvironmentMarch 2011

Part 1 RecycleOne woman’s trash, is another woman’s treasure.

Recycling just one glass bottle saves enough energy to light a 100-watt light bulb for four hours, power a computer for 30 minutes, or a television for 20 minutes

As per 2010 WM Sustainability Report

Does Chicago Recycle?

Blue Cart Program

Drop Off

Wolf Lake Drop Off Center

The 2010 City Budget did not allocate funds towards expanding the Blue Cart Program.

Chicago does not operate it’s own sorting or processing facilities.

Chicago Utilizes private Waste Management to process the bulk of it’s waste, both recyclable and non-recyclable.

Where Does the Recycling GO?Recycling Bins used by the Chicago Police Department come from Premier Recycling; now under the parent company Waste Management, Inc.

Sensational SanitationWaste Management, Inc. is North America’s Largest Residential Recycler

Creating Energy from Trash

• Waste to Energy Combustion

• Landfill Gasto-Energy

Landfill Gasto-Energy

Processing Recycled Material

Helping Communities Achieve “Zero Waste” Goals

“Think Green” and “Think Green from Home”

Greenopolis

The Future of Waste Management

Chicago, the City that WorksWaste Management is bound by decisions made by individual Municipalities. In Chicago, city sanitation trucks are responsible for the collection before it is out-sourced

Not-for-profit

Offers commercial and Residential recycling

A decided difference is their claim that 90% of the materials gathered are in fact, recycled

Alternative and Local OptionsThe downside: Resource Center has only four locations, all on Chicago’s North Side, and only one accepts plastics.

City Farm

• A miniature farm in the most urban of neighbor-hoods

• Utilizes compost made from local restaurants

• Offers a wide variety of vegetables

• Manages a fresh farmers market

• Open for membership

Part II Reduce and ReuseChanging what we view as trash on a personal level.

Every day in the United States, each person produces about four and a half pounds of garbage. That adds up to one ton of waste per person each year, more than half of which goes to landfills

As per 2010 WM Sustainability Report

Ideas to Consider

• Re-usable shopping bags

• Reading Media via the Internet

• Washable Cloth• Napkins• Towels• Diapers

Purchase Recycled There are many resources for recycled clothing, furniture and small appliances

Many companies offer products made from Recycled Materials

Directories: American Chemistry Council

Chicago Recycling Coalition

Green Seal

CompostingCompost provides the organic matter to make any soil alive growing environment.

Re-purpose

• Purse: Plastic Shopping Bags• Magazine Holder: Cardboard

cereal boxes• Butterfly Broaches: Plastic

Soda Containers• Lanterns: Glass Spaghetti

Jars

These and more crafts can be found at www.allfreecrafts.com

Eat Your Greens!

Many local restaurants are committed to environmental sustainability.

In addition to Chicago’s Guaranteed Green listing, consumers can consult The Green Restaurant Association and Green Seal

Many municipalities also have local listings.

Star

Performer!Travel Green

WISCONSIN• The very first state-sponsored sustainable tourism

certification program in the nation began in non-other than Wisconsin!

• This program has become the model for the rest of the country

• To obtain certification, Wisconsin businesses must obtain at least 30 points of standard in 9 environment categories and supply an Environmental assessment which tracks energy, fuel, water, and solid waste that the business consumes

ConclusionSilence may be golden but the environment requires a voice

• 10th Ward Alderman John Pope was amazed at the amount of recycling happening

• My personal complaints about the state of the drop-off bins resulted in next day clean-up.

One Person can make a Difference!

Bibliography• American Chemistry Council, Inc. 2011. 09 February 2011. http://

www.americanchemistry.com/s_acc/index.asp?CID=10&DID=13

• “Blue Cart Recycling Program.” City of Chicago. 2010. 03 March 2011. http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/streets/provdrs/san/svcs/blue_cart_recycling.html

• Chicago Recycling Coalition. 09 February 2011. http://www.chicagorecycling.org/index.htm

• “Dine Green.” Green Restaurant Association. 03 March 2011. http://dinegreen.com/default.asp

• Earth911. 2011. 09 February 2011. http://earth911.com/

• “Greenopolis.” WM GreenOps LLC. 2010. Waste Management, Inc. 02 March 2011. http://greenopolis.com/

• “Green Restaurant List.” Green Chicago Restaurats Co-op. Lackner/Andrews. 2011. 09 February 2011. http://buygreenchicago.org/guaranteed-green/green-restaurant-list/

• Green Seal. 2010. 03 March 2011. <http://www.greenseal.org/Home.aspx>

Bibliography Continued• Lachowicz, Jean. “Free Recycling Program Threatened with Privatization.”

Gazette Chicago. 03 December 2010. Gazette Chicago. 09 February 2011. http://www.gazettechicago.com/index/2010/12/free-recycling-program-threatened-with-privatization/

• “Private Sector and Business Recycling.” 2010. City of Chicago. 09 February 2011. http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/streets/provdrs/san/svcs/private_sector_recycling.html

• “Recycling Crafts and Projects.” All Free Crafts. 2011. 03 March 2011. http://www.allfreecrafts.com/recycling-crafts/index.shtml

• Resource Center. 2009. 09 February 2011. http://www.resourcecenterchicago.org/

• Think Green. Waste Management, Inc. 02 March 2011. http://www.thinkgreen.com/home

• Think Green From Home. 2008. Waste Management, Inc. & Brimark Consulting Group. 02 March 2011. https://www.thinkgreenfromhome.com/ThinkGreenFromHome.cfm

Bibliography Continued• “Travel Green Wisconsin.” Travel Wisconsin. 2010. Wisconsin

Department of Tourism. 03 March 2010. http://www.travelwisconsin.com/wisconsin/Travel-Green/Overview.aspx

• Waste Management, Inc. 2011. 02 March 2011. http://www.wm.com/residential.jsp