Megafest Recycling FAQ

At glendale.festing.org, as at monarch.festing.org before it, Festors are presented with a dizzying array of choices when discarding items: two streams of compost, single-stream recycling, and (if all else fails) regular municipal trash.

Why do we care?

The answer to this important question depends on your personal religious or philosophical beliefs. Christians will remember the Biblical injunction to be stewards of the earth. Science-fiction fans will assume that the planet will be around for a very long time and that every resource counts. Secular humanists may follow the same reasoning. Buddhists and Hindus practice ahimsa and protect the earth's living things by protecting the planet itself. Pagans need to protect Gaia.

What is "single stream" recycling?

In the Aughts, the new trend in recycling is a "single stream" recycling, in which all recyclables are placed in a single bin for curbside pickup and are sorted (both by machine and by hand) at the recycling depot. The trendy-forward looking communities of Boulder and Longmont both subscribe to the new recycling regime. This means I no longer have to keep recyclables separate and I can throw paperboard and cardboard in the paper bin in the house. We have a single recycling bin located under the kitchen counter in which all recyclable materials should be placed. When it overflows (which occurs regularly, and may be a nearly-daily occurrence during a Megafest) it is emptied into the 96-gallon recycling bin located outside the house; head out the French doors in the family room and turn right.

(Just in case you're wondering, the liner is made out of a compostable plastic, so we can dump the liner in the compost, next to the recycling bin, when it gets too dirty.)

Here's a flyer with the details but basically:

• Glass
• All plastic bottles, jugs, and tubs with recycling symbols 1 through 7, except for PLA compostable plastic
• Aluminum cans
• Tin (steel) cans
• Office paper
• Paperboard
• Cardboard
• Egg cartons

What's with the little green bin under the kitchen sink?

The green bin is temporary storage for composting. The thin gray filter in the lid is an active carbon filter, which seems effective at keeping the smell of decaying plant matter at a minimum. Uncooked plant materials from the kitchen should go into this bin.

I'm confused. Is the bin next to recycling for compost too?

That's compost too; in Boulder, we get curbside compost every two weeks. I use this mostly for yard waste but it comes in handy for nominally-compostable things that don't work well in my backyard/garden compost pile, like PLA compostable plastic and paper products that won't easily compost at home. Here's a flyer documenting the details.

What about paper?

Post-consumer paper, paperboard, and cardboard to be recycled can be placed in the single recycling bin under the overhanging kitchen counter. Any items too large to be placed in the bin (such as flattened cardboard boxes) may be taken out to the 96-gallon recycling bin in the yard.

No, seriously, what's the point?

It makes me feel morally superior. What other reason do I need?