Credit: Danny Fulgencio
Around here, we thought about it quite extensively in past months in preparing for the April cover story.
(We had so much fun doing that “What happens to our trash” piece in 2009; this was like part two.)
Advocate reporter Rachel Stone toured the city’s recycling plant, which is kind of mesmerizing.
“Dallas is far behind the curve, even by the standards the city set for itself in 2013,” she found. “But a brand-new $20-million recycling center and new efforts from city leaders show promise for the future.” Read the full story here.
Since we began brainstorming about this junk, the near-absolute lack of recycling opportunities in public spaces has become frustratingly evident. Our feature explores the ways Dallas businesses and apartment communities must — and hopefully will — improve.
Here in the Lake Highlands area, we highlighted Richland Community College, recycling role models and, literally, champions.
In 2016, Richland boasted an 82 percent recycling rate, earning the school the grand champion prize in RecycleMania, a nationwide competition for college and university recycling programs. (To offer some perspective, Richland topped 350 entrants including the likes of University of San Diego, University of Oregon and Cornell University.) But winning isn’t everything. In true recycling tournaments, participation really does count for something. Schools that participated in a three-month green competition last year collectively “recycled or composted 79.3 million pounds of recyclables and organic materials. This prevented the release of 122,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent into the atmosphere, or the equivalent of the annual emissions from 24,000 cars,” according to the RecycleMania team. Since 2012, Richland has placed in RecycleMania’s top 10 and won the Texas championship multiple times. Last year was its first national grand prize victory.
Richardson ISD also is doing its part both for the environment and in teaching the next generation, offering blue recycling bins in all RISD classrooms, which generate recyclable material for single stream dumpsters on each campus. Also at a campus level, students might be appointed to “green teams” to promote environmentally responsible behaviors, which include more than just recycling (think reduction in water and electricity usage, too). More here.
