Whether in Richmond Virginia or elsewhere, curbside recycling and other forms of recycling do help conserve natural resources, reduce the need for opening up extra public landfills and save energy. For example, an article entitled Recycling Facts mentions that recycling steel or tin cans require 74 percent less energy than to produce them directly from their original raw materials. Also, the same article mentions in the section "Key Recycling Facts" that recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to operate a TV for three hours!
Recycling at Home
Over the last 25 years or even longer in some communities, curbside recycling has been a convenient way for homeowners or renters living in homes (and also for some apartment dwellers) to place discarded items like empty bottles, cans and paper into containers to be picked up on a scheduled basis and taken to a recycling center. Before throwing out that next empty soup can, why not simply rinse it out and toss it in your recycling bin? After all, recycling begins at home.
Richmond Virginia recycling items are commingled in one bin, also called single stream.
Lots of discarded items can be recycled. Some examples are clean paper and newspapers, cardboard from broken down boxes, metal soup cans, glass and plastic drink bottles, and of course, aluminum cans. Not only does recycling help conserve natural resources, but municipalities ultimately can save money by reducing the need to raise local taxes as frequently in order to pay for additional landfill space!
Shown above is a worker depositing recycling items from a bin into truck's compactor.
Fortunately, the City of Richmond has a contract with Central Virginia Waste Management Authority (CVWMA) to collect household recycling items every other week. In fact, Red Wednesday occurred just a couple days ago, which is known as my neighborhood's particular recycling pickup day.
The CVWMA mails schedules to Richmond Virginia homes with helpful recycling tips.
Every year residents of the City of Richmond receive a new informational postcard about recycling tips and a collection schedule indicating pickup days. As mentioned earlier, Red Wednesdays are for my neighborhood, and pickup is every other week. If there happens to be any holidays during a given week, then the schedule is adjusted accordingly.
Above is the annual curbside recycling calendar for all Richmond Virginia neighborhoods.
Although participation in curbside recycling can vary, most of my neighbors appear to be active participants and remember to place their recycling bins on the curb every other Wednesday. Also, there often are financial benefits to recycling metal and even paper in some areas.
Financial Incentives to Recycle
Some states (not Virginia yet) offer deposits on bottles and cans. States that have current bottle bills as financial incentives to recycle are: California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, New York, Oregon and Vermont. Also, I believe Maryland is considering a bottle bill and likely other states are as well.
Even back in the late 1980s, I remember that a friend and I collected empty beer cans from a party at our Winter Harbor naval base (now closed) in Maine. As I recall, we received five cents for every single aluminum can and had huge bags to take to the collection center. We probably received around $25 to $30 to purchase more beer and soda for another upcoming social event on base.
Although Virginia currently offers no deposits on bottles or drink cans, local communities still have scrap metal companies that will accept aluminum cans and pay customers per pound for the aluminum. Several years ago before becoming a Richmond Virginia residential real estate professional, I collected empty cans part-time in my own community and made some extra money. Although I thought I was doing a good thing by diverting scrap metal from the landfill and reducing environmental waste, it was very labor intensive and became exhausting work after just a few years.
In addition, the compensation offered per pound at the local scrap metal facilities could vary widely depending the current price of aluminum on the stock market. For example, the scrap metal rate for aluminum could be as low as 30 cents or maybe as high as 60 cents per pound---either amount much less than the five or ten cents per aluminum can offered in states with bottle bills.
Recycling Promotes Cleaner Communities & Reduces Waste
So what's your personal incentive to recycle? Do you like having a cleaner home or community? Do you like the environmental benefits of recycling? Maybe it's a combination of factors, and most people would say it's just the right thing to do!
Do you still need to take recycling items in your community over to a local recycling center? Does your community even have a recycling center? Ask you local government leaders about starting a curbside recycling program in your area.
Would you like to see a bottle bill be enacted in your state to boost financial incentives for recycling? Contact your state government officials, or write a letter to the editor about the benefits of having a bottle bill in your state. Maybe even start a petition. Collectively, every single one of us can be the change to promote cleaner neighborhoods and communities for our families and ourselves!
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Are you looking to buy or sell a home in a Greater Richmond Virginia community where curbside recycling is available? Call me today, and let's get started on your goals and dreams!
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