The Recycling Diet - Week 1

Written By Walker Spruill

Today’s follow up from Last Week’s Show with the Asheville Tool Library (you can listen back on AshevilleFM.org or link to the show page here):

  • WNC Repair Cafe 2025 Schedule (link here): Upcoming events this month:

    • March 13 - Sewing and Mending Repair Cafe - 4-7pm at Leicester Public Library

    • March 15/16 - Farm and Garden Tools - Organic Grower’s School’s Spring Conference in Mars Hill

  • Battery Recycling - I searched Ecosia for “Battery Recycling Asheville” and found the Asheville Recycling Page and the Waste Wizard on AVLCollects.

    • Rechargeable batteries can be recycled at Home Depot, Lowe’s, and at Best Buy.

    • Alkalines go in the trash.)

The Recycling Diet - Week 1:

NO RECYCLING.

I know this seems counterintuitive but we need to take a realistic look at what materials (and how much of them) we are throwing out each week. What if you didn’t have recycling, due to services being taken away, access being difficult, or maybe even a natural disaster renders the service impossible (thanks Helene). How do you manage the trash that you are throwing out?

Tips to reduce the BULK of your trash:

  • Stack your Trash - Place like items inside like items. Cups stacked with cups. Clamshells nested inside clamshells.

  • Smash Your Trash - if you can, smash the trash down into as small a space as possible. Example I used: my paper yogurt cup (it folds in on itself easily) as an example of smashing before trashing. However, a trashcan full of paper towels is very tempting to smash down but be careful!! There could be something sharp inside the waste bin, like a broken glass or metal pull top mixed in the trash, so only do what is safe for you.

  • Separate the lids from the plastic containers: If you put a closed to-go container or sauce cup in the trash, it creates a pocket of air in the trash and your trash bag. If you remove the lid, other trash items can take up that “interior” space. Also, open containers are easier to be crushed by the trash trucks and heavy machinery (taking up less space in the landfill).

Compost: Asheville Community Compost information here.

Next week: The Recycling Diet - Week 2 - Metal Recycling

Tune in to Green Assistant Radio Tuesdays at 11am on AshevilleFM.org, 103.3fm in Asheville area, or through the Asheville FM app. 💚

Walker Spruill
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