On Thursday, Feb. 6, Manual’s Environmental Club hosted guest speaker Solid Waste Education Manager, Karen Maynard, from the Louisville Waste Management District.
Maynard discussed key waste topics like what happens to your recycling, how to recycle and what can be recycled. She also highlighted local resources that Louisville residents can use to recycle more responsibly.
“When you throw something away, you often pay per ton, so it is highly beneficial to divert that material from the landfill,” Maynard said.
According to a Louisville waste study from 2015, 34% of waste was not recoverable, meaning that it had nowhere to go except for a landfill. According to the same study, 30% of Louisville’s landfill waste could have been recycled, 17% could have been composted and 20% could have been diverted to other projects.
Know Waste Louisville is a government organization that educates people on what can be recycled and where to recycle it. Their website contains educational fliers on various topics involving waste and recycling.
Along with Know Waste, The Recycle Right program leaves tags on residential recycling bins to let people know if they have been recycling the correct items. There are three tags: A green “Way to Know!” tag means that the correct items are in the recycling bin. A yellow “Oops!” tag means that there are a minimal amount of contaminants in your recycling, which have been removed by the taggers. A red “Oops!” tag means that recyclables are too hazardous to be collected.
Some commonly found items that aren’t accepted in Louisville’s recycling are thick plastics, styrofoam, plastic wraps and batteries. It is strongly preferred for residents to recycle loosely, meaning not bagging the recyclables before putting them into the bins. This makes it easier for the recycling plants to remove contaminants efficiently.
“I realized that a lot of the things I’m doing at home as the recycling head are wrong and I could be doing better,” said Environmental Club Recycling Head Marcell Malone (12, HSU).
To help recycle the correct items, Maynard recommends the Recycle Coach app. On this app, you can search for any item to see the best way to dispose of it, whether it’s recycling, drop-off or regular trash pick-up.
“I learned how much our recycling is actually doing,” Danica Gabehart (11, MST) said.
Environmental Club collects recycling from every classroom bi-weekly on Thursdays. It’s become a fun game for members, trying to beat their record time to get through all of Manual’s classrooms. This not only helps the janitorial staff, but it brings the club an impactful activity.
Manual’s recycling efforts within the past year have been successful, with the rate of pounds of recycling per student increasing. To further improve recycling, Maynard encourages students to recycle their cardboard lunch trays, even if they have food on them.
“That little bit of ketchup, it’s going to get washed off,” Maynard said. “It won’t matter in the paper plant.”
For those who do not have recycling at home, Louisville has various recycling drop-off locations throughout the city. To learn more about recycling and other ways to help the environment, visit Environmental Club in room 213 every Thursday.
