VOTE YES ON #306
Did you know you cant recyle or compost in large apartment buildings in Denver? Crazy! Waste No More Denver has put together a grassroots initiative to change that – read more about it here and how to get involved and be sure to vote yes on your November ballot
Do you know how to Recycle?
I honestly didn’t think I needed to create a post on how to recycle in Denver. I assumed everyone recycled but you know what they say about assuming!
I mean, I have been learning about recycling since like kindergarten – reduce, reuse, recycle. My school had a can drive a few times a year and whichever grade brought in the most cans to be recycled got a “wear what you want day”!! (we wore uniforms).
When I moved to Denver, we recycled but we put everything in a trash bag 🙄 until we learned that was a big no-no. In 2020 I made a big commitment to be more sustainable in every area of life, which kicked off my obsession with composting. After reading this Ecocycles 2021 report on composting and recycling, I was shocked at how bad Colorado is doing…
How Good is Colorado at Recycling? 🤨
We aren’t! But Colorado is so green and granola, right? Nope – we divert recyclable or compostable waste at HALF the national average!
- Colorado’s statewide recycling and the composting rate was 15% in 2020, the national recycling and composting rate is 32% 😣 (source)
- 9% of plastic containers and packaging is recycled statewide (source)
- Glass, which is infinitely recyclable makes up as much as 4.5% of our landfills (source)
- Denver recycles and composts just 26% of its waste (source)
- On average, Denverites recycle only 63% of the recyclable waste generated by their household each year. (source)
US Recycling Stats
- Over the last few years recycling/composting rates have been doing down nationwide (source)
- Maine has the highest recycling rate while West Virginia has the lowest (source)
- Only 25% off US waste is recycled (source)
- We only recycle 33% of glass, which is infinitely recyclable (source)
- 9% of plastic EVER made has been recycled 😕 (source)
Does Recycling actually get Recycled?
Sometimes you might hear that recycling is BS that it all ends up in the same place or things you think can be recycled actually can’t. Well, it really varies from location to location and the type of recycling service available to you. How to Save a Planet did a great podcast on recycling I think everyone can learn from
Wish-cycling > We all do it but let’s not!
A lot of us Wish-cycle – myself included. Ya know, when you guess if something can be recycled and hope that it can so you toss it in any way? The best way to stop wishcycling is to familiarize yourself with your recycling system – aka what you can and can’t recycle!
Plastic – First, the number with the arrows on the plastic is not how many times an item can be recycled, the arrows are for decoration have nothing to do with recycling. However, you can read the number to know what you can recycle.
In Denver, you can recycle plastics #1-7 but not things like plastic grocery bags, potato chip bags, juice containers, or plastic wrap. This is actually pretty awesome most recyclers take only #1 & #2 products
Plastic Bags, Films, Amazon Bags – You CANNOT recycle plastic bags and films in Denver and in the large majority of manciple recycling programs. Bags gunk up the machines and cause more hassle and eventually just get sent to the landfill.
- Grocery Stores – *Most* grocery stores offer free recycling of plastic bags and film (Kings, Walmart, Sprouts, Safeway, Publix, Kroger, Target, Lowes etc)
- Plastic Film Recycling – use this site to find out where you can recycle plastic bags near you
- Read more about recycling amazon mailers here
Other common items you might try to recycle in Denver but cant
- Tissue paper, ribbon or bows.
- Bubble envelopes or Tyvek® (polyethylene fiber) envelopes, such as some overnight mailing envelopes
- Paper plates
- Paperback or hardcover books
- Paper Towels, Tissues, or Napkins
- Foil bags (such as potato chip bags).
- Foil “yogurt” lids.
- Pizza boxes – If your pizza box is greasy compost it!
Review Denver’s guide to what you can and can’t recycle here. And remember to clean your containers before putting them in recycling!
How to Start Recycling in Denver
Denver/Front Range
- Single Family Homes – Denver offers to recycle for single-family homes & less than 7 unit multi-family – call 311 or sign up here (sign up for composting too!)
- Multifamily – Check out this how-to of adding recycling service to your appearance or office building
- Hard to recycle items like plastic film check out Happy Beatle and Ridewell
- Use this handy map to find a provider in your area
- Apartments – Denver, Westminster, Broomfield – Next Use offers individual pick-up options!
Drop off – Denver/Front Range
- Denver Metro Dropoff (almost in Glendale) – Denver residence only check open times/dates
- Sustainability – Recycling – For $3 you can drop off recycling including hard to recycle items like ink & toner, CD & DVDs, cork, batteries, or large plastic items (like buckets)
- Alliance Center – Denver – For hard to recycle items like foil chip bags(!!!) baby food and drink beauty products
- Vert Beauty – Drop off your cleaned our beauty and skincare empties here for free and get a discount!
- Joyfill – Dental Care, personal care, razors, and more are accepted for recycling here
- Grocery Stores – *Most* grocery stores offer free recycling of plastic bags and film (Kings, Walmart, Sprouts, Safeway, Publix, Kroger, Target, Lowes etc)
Colorado
- Use this handy map to find a provider in your area
- Happy Beatle – This locally owned company helps you recycle hard-to-recycle items along the front range. All areas of the C470 loop plus the US36 corridor to Boulder & Louisville.
- Ridewell – This national service may be available in your area to help you recycle had to recycle items like plastic film (think grocery bags and shipping packages) I just signed up!
I’d love to know if this post helped you start recycling or stop wishcycling products! If you’re as annoyed with me let your city/county representatives know! Take action here and read more about how to be involved on Ecocycle. Your feedback is always welcome. Leave a comment or send me a DM