Terra Cycle Community Building through Recycling Rosemary Calderon

Terra Cycle: Community Building through Recycling Rosemary Calderon Park Slope Food Coop Environmental Committee Member S

Worth the Effort S Small impact but the message is STRONG --- philosophy/practice SPREADS and provides great teaching moments for individuals, kids and families S Member participation has grown and those who participate are very enthusiastic and supportive of the project. S That I’m presenting here today illustrates that point beautifully— and even if just one of you takes this info and implements a similar project in your coop then it continues to have far reaching effects S Many small impact projects can lead to a much greater good

History of this project S I was introduced to Terra. Cycle recycling by a dear friend in Seattle and thought why not do it here? I joined the Environmental Committee with this in mind. The EC is a long standing PSFC committee which provides awareness, teaching, and strategies addressing various environmental issues. S I am not necessarily advocating Terra Cycle per se – there may be other Recycling programs in your area to team with or it may be that your metro area has better recycling options than NYC, it’s just what we are doing here.

What is Terra Cycle S Terra. Cycle is an international organization which challenges the concept of waste by repurposing, upcycling and recycling waste not currently accepted in various Municipal waste streams. S Example of products produced by Terra. Cycle from collected waste are wide ranging: Wallets, purses, belts, plant pots, patio decking planks, fence pickets, gardening supplies, benches, office supplies, lunch bags, flooring and carpeting, etc. All of which can also be recycled over and over

Many Benefits of the Collection S Decreasing the landfill S Membership engagement S Decreasing the Coop’s carbon footprint S Fundraising for non-profits. Terra. Cycle assigns points for appropriate items collected. Accumulated points are given a monetary value that can then be donated to any number of non-profits of your choosing

How it works—It’s very simple! S Open an account with Terra. Cycle by simply registering online. There will be opportunities to join Free Brigades – these cost nothing to join and free shipping is provided for items collected. And opportunities to pay for fee based Zero Waste bins that target more diverse collections of items. S Examples of Free Brigades include: Brita Filters, energy bar wrappers, toothpaste tubes and toothbrushes, cereal bag liners, baby food pouches, binders, cigarette butts, personal care and beauty products, pet food bags, etc S Fee based collection examples: Plastic film, hair, batteries, glue sticks/bottles, garage supplies, auto parts, aerosol cans, gum packaging, coffee packs, electronics, light bulbs, media storage, office supplies, etc S Thus you can implement this project totally for free or take it to the next level which costs but the collection is so much more far ranging

How it works continued S Free brigades are corporate sponsored—meaning a corporation like Tom’s of Maine or Glad or Brita pays Terra. Cycle to collect these items and repurpose, upcycle or recycle their product. S These brigades provide free shipping labels for items collected. The labels are very easy to download from the website. Boxes are taped, shipping labels applied, and carted to the nearby UPS for shipment after each collection. S There is some latitude for not all similar products have to be of that Name Brand but there are stricter rules for not mixing items even though the waste may be similar (example, Colgate’s toothpaste collection will accept other brands of toothpaste tubes but not similarly packaged lotions or hair products in tubes or Clif energy bar wrappers may take other energy bars wrappings but not candy or other food stuff wrappers).

How it works continued Fee based collections: These collections are definitely an investment but it’s impressive how much you can stuff into one of these bins!! S Free Shipping included in the cost No points accumulated for these collections

How we did it here S Started with direct surveying of the membership during shopping hours about the idea of partnering with Terra. Cycle and what items to collect given what free brigades were available at the time—enthusiastic responses indicated it would be worth the effort to trial and what 6 items we would focus on (you can focus on more or less brigades) S Wrote articles for the COOP newspaper explaining the project S Registered for an account and signed up for 6 free brigades S Trialed the free brigade collections for 3 months (twice a month). These were managed and staffed by the Environmental Committee to access participation and interest.

How we started continued S Once clear that membership was interested, participating, and we had collected data to share, we brought it to the membership to vote to make it an actual work shift. S Phase 1 was establishing the free brigade collections, the collection dates and times, and recruiting shift workers. This was voted in almost unanimously. S Phase 2 was expanding the collection to include the fee based Zero Waste plastic film collection which meant requesting a budget to buy the bins ($5000 for 24 bins). This was brought up for a vote amongst the membership (vast majority voted yes). This was proposed as a yearlong trial. We are now in the process of bringing this to another vote to establish this collection for the indefinite future. Success means increasing the budget, finding other financial support (mandatory fee? ? ) and adding another collection time/day.

The Zero Waste Bin allows for collection of a wide range of soft plastic packaging CURRENTLY NOT ACCEPTED BY NYC RECYCLING— A few examples of the hundreds of products sold at the COOP wrapped in plastic --plastic packaging for diapers, baby wipes, --plastic wrapping on paper towels, plates, cups, cards, calendars --frozen fruit and vegetables --frozen fish, poultry, beef, hot dogs, cold cuts, tofu --fresh vegetable bags (e. g, salad, lettuce, green beans, celery, carrots, cauliflower) --fresh fruit bags (e. g, oranges, grapes, apples, cherries, etc) --bread and muffin bags --cotton balls and face wipes --pasta wrapping --granola --tortilla bags --marshmallows --brand cheese packaging (e. g. organic valley) --seaweed wraps --packaged flours, sugars, salt --sponges --kitchen tools --pet food --plastic wrapped calendars, cards, notebooks --bagged soups --disposable plates, cups, dinnerware --wrapped tea boxes --dried mushrooms, chilis, --wrapped cans of sardines --crackers --micro filters --plastic wrapped juice packs --packaged grains

Tips for starting your collection S Support and buy in of the Coop administration is imperative as they will help with finances, provide admin support, find space for storage, find space for the collections to occur, etc. S Also imperative is to have one or two point persons to provide leadership to the project to oversee recruiting, orienting, and training of shift workers, liaison with Terra. Cycle and the Coop, track free brigades of interest, etc.

Tips for starting your collection S HIGHLY ADVISE THAT COLLECTIONS BE AT DESIGNATED TIMES: high supervision and vetting needed of items deposited otherwise you will collect a lot of inappropriate trash despite member’s best intentions. Do not leave an open container unattended for any deposits any time. S We have two well advertised collection times (posted in writing throughout the coop, advertised in our biweekly Coop Newspaper, blasted on our Environmental Committee FB page, Twitter, and email list, on handouts available at each collection with the upcoming dates and times as well as what we are collecting

Bumps along the way S The free brigades are somewhat fluid. Corporations withdraw support and the brigade ends. This was an unanticipated problem for us in that our by far biggest free brigade collection was the Glad food storage collection which accepted our small bulk bags. S When that brigade was discontinued, all that plastic then had to be diverted to the fee based Zero Waste bin which filled it much faster and thus increased the cost of our collection. S We are hoping a new Corporate sponsor will come forward for that brigade but we now have to plan for not having that free brigade.

Bumps along the way S Recruiting and maintaining Shift Workers – while there are many up sides to working this shift there are downsides. S We have found complete transparency about the pros and cons of working the shift have been helpful in recruiting and maintaining really great shift workers who share a passion for the environment. S Depending on size of the collection, suggest a minimum of 3 and more like 6 to 8 shift workers

Checkout the Website SFor more detailed info: S www. Terra. Cycle. com

Contact information S I am happy to consult with anyone interested in starting a similar recycling project in their Coop community S Rosemary Calderon S rosenyny@gmail. com S 206 954 4376