Submitted by the Sustainability Working Group
Our traditional ways taught us to use everything we take. We were conscious of keeping our environment pure. We lived in villages that are hard to detect even to this day.
Our traditional values can be used to continue to honor our environment in our current times through recycling. Recycling assures that everything is used to its fullest and helps to protect our Mother Earth.
It doesn’t count if it isn’t done right.
Following our traditional ways by recycling right means to:
- Put only empty, clean, and dry items in your recycling bin.
- Only recycle what is allowed. Some items like glass and shredded paper need to be separated and taken to a satellite drop off center.
- Don’t put recyclables in plastic bags. Plastic bags can jam equipment in recycling processing facilities.
- When in doubt, find out. Go online to find out what is accepted in your curbside commingled bin, what needs to be taken to satellite locations, and what goes in the trash.
We have to recycle with thought, like our ancestors did. Up until 2018, most of Tacoma’s recycling was sold to China, however they stopped accepting paper and plastic recycle because of high amounts of contamination.
New standards for contamination have affected many local recycling programs. Help your city’s recycling program by recycling right.
The best way to reduce recyclables is to reduce waste as a whole. Recycling is getting more challenging and expensive. At best, it is a temporary solution. We must continue to think about the waste we are producing, whether it’s recyclable or not, and find ways to reduce it.
Do not let waste be our generation’s legacy.
Source: tacomarecycles.org
