FINALLY!! Zero Waste!!

I found a place to recycle my paper. Interestingly enough, our county does not take junk mail etc. They have pick up points for it, but not at the incinerator 2 miles up the road.

Then I called York County's Waste Management Authority. They *do* take all kinds of junk mail, cardboard, etc. They just started. BUT the area is not lit at all at night, and thats when I'd be dropping stuff off, after work.

Then I had an epiphany. I know the hospital where I work recycles cans and shreds paper with confidential info on it. So I called the housekeeping department and asked if I could bring in my own paper trash from home and add it to theirs. Sure enough, they do have a paper recycling program. And the director mentioned that the receptacle on the food services dock is very underused, which costs them money because they pay the same price whether its empty or full. So, I'm welcome to take my paper trash there and put it in that receptacle. AND he wants me to bag it in grocery bags, so I can get rid of those too!

We also discussed the fact that in the Emergency Dept, there are no paper recycling containers. Apparently, people mistook the brown cans for regular trash cans. And housekeepers would line the cans with brown bags instead of clear ones (brown ones go to the incinerator).

So I suggested we start by making a bright sign labeling the cans and stating that only clear bags go in those cans. I also suggested that they paint the cans a neon color, something that gets people to think about the can, not just toss stuff into it.

He also asked me if we have a recycling container in the nurses lounge, and I said we do not. So he is looking into that and hopefully we will be recycling paper AND plastic, glass, etc. Now I'm really excited. I have a place to recycle my paper without having to drive an hour for no other reason to get there!!!

For those of you with the same difficulties....check with your employer. You may find that they are already recycling, and they might welcome your trash!