Ohio State's summer session ends Friday, and - traditionally - move-out weekend means heaps of trash, furniture and even food overwhelming the city's refuse collection system. But this year the city is trying to make the mountains more manageable, by making it easier to separate out material that can be recycled or reused. Aryeh Alex is the manager of Keep Columbus Beautiful in the the city's Department of Public Service.
"You often see couches and furniture in these areas, but you also see all kinds of other household goods; old tablets, televisions, unopened food, clothes that individuals no longer want. Seeing these dumpsters full every year, full of material that can be reused or diverted from the landfill, really lines up with the city's Climate Action Plan. Which has a goal of 95% reduction in recyclable waste going to the landfill. And so, we wanted to figure out how we could capture that material and divert it, and helps us reach our sustainability goals. But also make the community a cleaner, more healthier place, that also aligns with the values of many of the people that live in those communities."
Alex says the trick to getting people to recycle is to make it easy. Beginning Saturday, recycling dumpsters clearly labeled at to what's acceptable, will be placed along side regular dumpsters in 16 locations. There will also be four bulk dumpsters:
".... giant roll-off dumpsters, throughout the neighborhood, where people could take their furniture, their bulk items. And if it's really really good quality stuff, we'll try to work with some of our partners to see if they'll take that and reuse that. Of course, people are more than welcome to drive by and see what else is in there... but we don't want people dragging this stuff out and leaving it on the street or on the sidewalk or in their back alley. We want to make it as convenient as possible to take it one of these bulk dumpsters and throw that stuff away."
There will also be locations to drop off electronic recyclables, and to donate non-perishable food items and unopened toiletries to the Mid-Ohio Food Collective. The dumpsters will be deployed Saturday, July 30th and remain in place until Monday, August 15th. A full list of locations and a guide to what can be recycled or reused can be found here.
