New Recycling Guidelines in the South Hills

First of all, thank you for being here.  I am excited about sharing information with anyone who will get use out of it.  Some of the information here may be basic to you, but I hope there will be something that is new too.  If you have something to add or personal experiences to share, please comment below!
For the very first post, we’re going to revisit a request I made to the general public via Facebook at the beginning of this year when the South Hills of Pittsburgh switched up some recycling guidelines.  Keep in mind that these recycling restrictions may not be the case where you live, but REDUCING is always a better option than RECYCLING, wherever you are!

And now the post from January 9,2019…

TL;DR: Here’s a New Year’s resolution worth keeping – reduce your one-time-use glass and plastics this year. Reducing makes much more of an impact than Recycling (which doesn’t do as much as we’d like to think).

As we start a new year and strive to do better in various aspects of our lives, I would humbly request that you (and I) make more of an effort this year to reduce our impact on the planet by reducing our use of one-time-use packaging (specifics below…)

Many Pittsburgh friends are upset over changes in our recycling services. It is true that our waste service is collecting less, but they are not really recycling much less than they were before. As for plastics, the recycling facilities used by the municipalities in Allegheny County are only set up for #1 and 2 plastic bottles – not the #1 plastic crates that your fruit comes in – only the bottles and jugs. Everything else goes to a landfill or an incinerator. By reducing what Waste Management collects, the municipalities are simply bypassing a lot of excessive work at the sorting facility and sending the recyclables directly to where they were going, and the non-recyclables to where they were going anyway.  As frustrating as this may seem, they are actually making the process – as it currently stands – more efficient. (Whether or not they should be recycling more is a different subject entirely.)

In addition to plastic, the South Hills (at least) is no longer collecting glass. While this change is frustrating, it is not without reason. Much glass that is collected for recycling never gets there either. Glass is very hard on the single-stream sorting machines, requiring additional maintenance (and money) at the recycling facilities. If glass breaks in the single-stream process (which it is very likely to do), it can contaminate other recyclables (newspaper, for example), which then cannot be recycled either, and will also have to go to the landfill. 

FORTUNATELY (and this is new news since the original post) we here in the South Hills have a glass collection pilot currently running through April 3.  Michael Brothers’ recycling at 901 Horning road will collect glass for free during these hours: 7am-4pm Wednesdays and 7-11am Saturdays.  For our North Hills friends, glass also is being accepted at Michael Brothers’ North Hills location at the Reserve Park waste transfer station at 408 Hoffman Road in Reserve during the same hours.  

Here are some examples of how to make a difference that go beyond your reusable shopping bags…

• Take reusable mesh bags to the store for your fruits and vegetables… buy them loose instead of in plastic bags or boxes.
• Shop at stores that let you fill (and refill) your own containers with peanut butter, olive oil, kombucha, spices, etc. (e.g. East End Co-op and Fresh Thyme here in Pittsburgh)
• Carry reusable (e.g. bamboo) utensils with you so you always have an alternative to plastic silverware.
• Bring a Tupperware container when you go out to eat and use that as a doggy bag instead of having the restaurant package your leftovers in whatever they use (hopefully not Styrofoam!)
• Metal is easier to manage in recycling facilities and more cost-effective to recycle, so if you have the option, buy something in a metal container, rather than glass or plastic.
• Instead of buying beer in bottles, support your local breweries and fill a growler!

Feel free to ask questions if you have them – I will do my best to answer or point you to a reputable source for more information. Or leave your own suggestions below!

Note: When I originally posted this information on Facebook, someone asked a big question regarding the health impacts of using metal cans or plastic bottles instead of glass.  There are concerns around the connection between aluminum and Alzheimers, as well as BPA (an endocrine disruptor) in plastics.  I hope to revisit these issues in more detail in the future.

Thanks for reading!

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