Recycling AND Trash on the rise in AV
Last year it looked like we had achieved numbers for the books. In ’08 we brought 179 tons of trash to the incinerator. 40% less than in ’07. We also thought that we could show a spectacular shift from trash to recycling. To top it off, all this coincided with a substantial enhancement of single-stream recycling by our hauler. Unfortunately the success story only lasted one year. The ’09 data give us a different picture.
Our non-recyclable waste jumped back to “normal” figures. In ’09 we trashed 36 tons more than in ’08. Still, the longer term trend is that we trash less every year (almost exactly -18t p.a. in average). But even if this year’s jump is “just a correction”, our annual trash-reduction rate is averaging 5-6%. Not enough to offset the dramatic cost increase for trash disposal. Thus, despite the decrease in volume we end up paying more.
Our recycling-volume increases steadily, which is good. But it does so almost twice as fast as we manage to reduce our regular trash.
Bottom line: We are producing considerably more waste that in the years before. This is true both for trash AND for recyclables. Waste disposal costs will be on the rise unless we manage to reverse this development.
These are obviously NOT good news. REDUCING waste becomes again a priority goal for our community. It will require some extra focus and effort to find back to a path that is both environmentally and economically sustainable.
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Arlington Village Green Team 
How do we know that the figures are accurate?
And what can we do about it?
Hey Frosty!
This is how we know how much we trash: Admin tells us. Typically at the beginning of each year.
And this is how Admin knows:
For Non-Recyclables (regular trash):
AV collects these with its (our) own truck three times a week and drives them to the Alexandria Incinerator twice a week. Our truck is weighed on its way in and at the exit of the plant. We get billed for the difference in weight every time (108 slips a year). The payments appear in our financial statements.
For Recyclable waste:
We get billed by the toter: $20.89 per toter/per month. With the latest addition of 4 more toters we got a volume discount $20.55 per toter/month. We have a total of 96 toters in AV (not 95 … ERC counted one more).
So the numbers are solid.
Your second question is difficult…
The Green Team 🙂 is already trying to find ways to draw attention on Reduce and Reuse. One line of action is to be posting little reminders every month on the B-Boards on all garbage-enclosures. You may have noticed the “Cardboard?=Fold it” note this month. It’s a collaborative project with Admin and it actually works very well. There’s more of this in the works. Come to a meeting 🙂 to see the designs!
Ideas always welcome!