Oregon Swap

The easiest way to reduce America’s wastelands is good old fashioned recycling. It is important to start good recycling habits at the home, community, and state level if we want to see a difference in the country’s recycling statistics. Thankfully, Oregon homeowners are pretty good at recycling. You’re more likely to be surprised at NOT to see a recycling bin set out in most neighborhoods. If you’re a little late to the recycling game (don’t worryit’s never too late to start), there are a few things you’ll need to know before you start saving the world one recycle bin at a time.First, you’ll need to find a recycler. If you’re in Portland, use this Recycler Locator to find the right company for you. If you reside outside of Portland, use the local yellow pages to find a recycling company nearby, and then make sure they provide the services you’re looking for. Usually, recyclers can be used for residential, business, government, school, and nonprofit sources. This means you can ensure environmentally friendly recycle options anywhere you go.Based on the most recent data available, The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality reported that in 2008, 56.8 of waste generated in the Metro region was recovered or prevented. More specifically, out of the 2,434,840 TONS of total waste generated by the metro region, 1,235,924 tons of waste was recovered from the landfills to be reused and recycled. While these stats are impressive, they are not enough. Oregon is raising its goal to 64 and needs all the help we can give to reach this goal. To obtain this goal, local governments and the solid waste industry are focusing on organics (mostly food products from grocery stores, restaurants, and distributors), paper and containers from businesses, and construction and demolition waste. They also plan to increase recovery from residential curbside recyclingsomething you can take part in.