Commentary
In trash, she found a mine of terrible things to waste
by Nancy Lo
I thought I was doing something that everyone could get behind.
It's amazing what you notice when you look downward. At my old job, I started seeing lots of recyclables in people's garbage cans. So I started taking them out, and after a while I was in everyone's trash.
And you should've seen the quantity of stuff I recycled every night over the months. Glass and plastic bottles, cans, plastic grocery bags, lithium batteries, binders that students could use, CDs and DVDs, cereal and Kleenex boxes, not to mention reams of paper. This despite the abundant recycling bins I'd put all over the room.
Now, you'd think that once you throw stuff away, that means you don't want it anymore, right? You've discarded it. But when I started digging through that stuff, all hell broke loose.
It's not like I loitered, looking for personal information. I got in and got out as quickly as possible. If people found me rooting in their trash, reactions ranged from embarrassment to surprise to approval.
I did get a few weird, mean looks, but I didn't know the power of the displeased minority until my manager told me I had to stop my garbage-digging. It totally shocked me! I said that people had been thanking and praising me.
We settled on this: People would put a gold sticker on their trash can if it was OK for me to go through it. That worked well; there were lots of stickers and pats on the back. Everything was going along fine for almost a year.
Then one day a different manager said he wanted to talk to me. There were still a few people who said I was invading their personal space. He gave me a direct order -- he used those exact words -- to stop, regardless of whether people had a sticker or had expressly told me I could look in their trash.
So I came up with a new strategy: I'd wait until the janitor emptied the smaller trash cans into his big gray cart, then go through that. Or I'd go to the basement and sort garbage there.
But then came layoffs. Not only was I restricted at the office, I wasn't at the office at all.
People tell me I made a big difference and changed some habits -- and I know I did in some cases. But the whole thing was an awakening. I went in a bit naive and came out a bit cynical.
So now what do I do? I go to neighborhood festivals, block parties and sporting events, stand next to "disposal stations" that I set up, and help people sort. Afterward we weigh and compare the compostables, recycling and trash. I'm stopping the trash before it becomes trash.
And trash never complains I'm invading its personal space.
----
Nancy Lo, a Minneapolis writer, promotes waste reduction at The Trashbasher. Later this month she will begin working with Minnesota GreenCorps, an AmeriCorps program focused on environmental projects.
Comments (6)
Nancy is the best. I work at an animal hospital in Bloomington and she comes 1-2 times a week to volunteer. While she is there she helps sort the trash. It started with a few things here and there but now we have 3 recycle bins in every room for everything you can imagine. We even have a 'worm bin' for compost in the kitchen along with shoe boxes for candy bar wrappers, granola bar wrappers and plastic bottle caps . I now find myself more aware of what I throw away and I am reusing everything. I look at something in my hand that I am about to throw away and think....'what would Nancy do?' She really has opened my eyes. She wonderful and I appreciate her very much!
Nancy is the best. I work at an animal hospital in Bloomington and she comes 1-2 times a week to volunteer. While she is there she helps sort the trash. It started with a few things here and there but now we have 3 recycle bins in every room for everything you can imagine. We even have a 'worm bin' for compost in the kitchen along with shoe boxes for candy bar wrappers, granola bar wrappers and plastic bottle caps . I now find myself more aware of what I throw away and I am reusing everything. I look at something in my hand that I am about to throw away and think....'what would Nancy do?' She really has opened my eyes. She wonderful and I appreciate her very much!
I volunteer with Nancy to at our Local Humane Society. Go Nancy Go!! I have been known to save our road trip recyclables on the roof of the van until we find a place to recycle! My hubby thinks I'm cuckoo but plays along!
Nancy and people like her are becoming more and more the norm. Her former managers are the outliers. I know people all over who do this at work, when they travel, when they are walking around the city. If we get really good at this Minnesota's recycling rate could move from about 41% where it's been sitting for the last 10 years, and jump to 50-60%. And we'd be making a lot more of the natural resource (aluminum, trees, water, and coal and petroleum) that are bound up in that so-called "trash". Go Nancy!
In my humble opinion, the managers at a NEWSPAPER who believe that recycling should be a choice and throwing away paper is OK are the ones who should be "laid off." I no longer subscribe. Compared to Nancy, I throw a lot of stuff away... but my recycle bin is full every week and my "trash" bin goes to the curb half empty once a month. Yes, I pay the trash company the same... but it's not about them or saving money, is it?
Thanks Nancy for everything you do. And good luck in your new endeavor. The Star Tribune should be ashamed of itself.
The UUA held it's General Assembly at the Minneapolis Convention Center in late June, with over 3,000 attendees.
And the MCC just announced a few days ago that zero onsite waste went to landfill. Now, some did go to the garbage burner, and I know that is not idea in some people's eyes.
But that element aside, there was composting, lots of recycling, a 20% source reduction strategy, and the food service used 30% local ingredients.
I think individual efforts like Nancy Lo's - and big institutional efforts like the UUA & MCC should each be praised. And then emulated!
Post a comment
Please be civil, brief and relevant.
E-mail addresses are never displayed but they are required to confirm your comments. All comments are moderated. MPR reserves the right to edit any comments on this site and to read them on the air with attribution. Please read the Terms and Conditions before posting.
You must be 13 or over to submit information to Minnesota Public Radio. The information entered into this form will not be used to send unsolicited e-mail and will not be sold to a third party. For more information see Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.
