Documenting Saved Waste

Hey!

Have you checked out the folks doing the Clean Bin Project in Vancouver?

They've been working on a film of their year going 'zero waste' and have some excellent resources on their blog:

http://cleanbinproject.com

http://cleanbinproject.com/takeaction

Cheers,
shelby

With the amount I achieved the last recycling day, I realized I could push myself a little further. I dedicated as much time as possible over the past week to go from 60% to 85% recycling. The number of salvaged material over one week has closed in on and even passed my previous two weeks worth! And that's still not absolutely everything, taking into consideration the three hours after my shift and all of Saturday, which I don't work. Plus there's all the waste that leaves the premises with the customers. Here are my most recent numbers for February 17-25:

Newspapers: 50
Plastic Bags: 144
Coffee Lids and Sleeves: 52
Take-out Containers: 105
Tin Cans: 12
Milk Jugs: 33
Glass: 7
Plastic Containers: 13
Cardboard: 32
Aluminum: 57
Paper Bags: 14
Business Cards: 4
Aerosol Cans: 2
Paper: 19
Refundable Drink Containers: 16
Magazines: 2

This averages out over a year to:

Newspapers: 2215
Plastic Bags: 6427
Coffee Lids and Sleeves: 2309
Take-Out Containers: 4680
Tin Cans: 530
Milk Jugs: 1466
Glass: 312
Plastic Containers: 562
Cardboard: 1435
Aluminum: 2527
Paper Bags: 628
Business Cards: 312
Aerosol Cans: 312
Refundable Drink Containers: 1654
Magazines: 24
Paper: 1966
Candy Wrappers: 312

And that's just a minimum amount! To think that this is what comes out of a small family business, imagine what garbage day looks like at the bigger-named companies. It's an astronomical amount of waste!

I'll ask it again: Why isn't it mandatory for businesses to recycle?

Ooops, forgot to post my previous collection. This one is for March 3-16. It's not an exact documentation as I ran out of time to count through the last three garbage bags.

Newspapers: 14
Plastic Bags: 227
Coffee Lids and Sleeves: 62
Take-Out Containers: 69
Tin Cans: 15
Milk Jugs: 31
Glass: 5
Plastic Containers: 18
Cardboard: 58
Aluminum: 79
Paper Bags: 10
Candy Wrappers: 21
Business Cards: 1
Paper: 42

I wonder what the mass saved from the landfill amounts to? And what the equivalent in saved energy/carbon-footprint reduction might be?

This may be my last documentation of recyclables collected from Perkins. As I have been sick for the past week, it is a few days short on what could have been attained. This waste is for March 17-28.

Newspapers: 20
Plastic Bags: 231
Coffee Lids and Sleeves: 50
Take-Out Containers: 99
Tin Cans: 14
Milk Jugs: 35
Glass: 6
Plastic Containers: 14
Cardboard: 18
Aluminum: 91
Paper Bags: 17
Candy Wrappers: 2
Business Cards: 97
Paper: 12
Aerosol Cans: 1
Refundable Beverage Containers: 25
Magazines: 9

It saddens me that no one will be willing to carry on my legacy and keep the recycling going. I feel like I've let down the earth by choosing myself first.