But with a quick Q&A with a nice employee at Jude’s Health & Java, we found out that there is in fact a place for us who prefer to recycle to drop off the items. The Recycling Complex is located at 501 SW Virginia Ave, Bartlesville OK 74003. It is managed by the EmployAbility’s Recycling Crew. The crew is consist of a few of full-time and four part-time employees with disabilities. Thank you ladies and gentlemen for your hard work to make a difference!

I have copied some of the information regarding what they are accepting at the drop off location. Please be considerate and sort the items and clean them accordingly so that the crew can work safely and efficiently.

Items Currently Accepted At Bartlesville Recycling Complex

PAPER

• Cardboard
• Newsprint
• Phone Books
• Hard/Paperback Books
• Magazines
• Catalogs
• Office and Shredded Paper and Junk Mail

PLASTIC

• Plastic Milk and Drink Bottles
• Catsup and Salad Dressing Bottles
• Peanut Butter, Pickle, Jelly and Jam Jars
• Shampoo, Dish and Laundry Detergent and Cooking Oil Jugs (no larger than 1 gallon)
• Yogurt and Margarine Tubs and Plastic TV Dinner Food Trays

Please wash or rinse any containers that have held food or caustics, and discard caps.

METAL

Aluminum Soft Drink and Beer Cans

GLASS

• Clear and Brown Glass Jars
• Bottles and Jugs (no larger than 1 gallon)

Please wash or rinse any containers that have held food or caustics, and discard caps.

If you bring your recyclables in plastic bags, please dump the bag out into the appropriate bin(s) and take the bag home for another use. * Shredded paper is the exception; it should remain bagged.

ITEMS NOT ACCEPTED

• Mirrors
• Window Pane Glass
• Blue and Green Glass
• Tin Cans
• Appliances
• Dishes and Glass Tableware
• Plastic Bags
• Styrofoam

They are not able to process these items. When left, their cost is increased due to disposal charges.

Receiving hours:

Aluminum Cans – Mon ~ Fri 8:45-2:30 – $0.25 a pound**(rate subject to change)

All other items: 24-7 drop off

You can find out more detail information on their FAQ page.

You can watch the video on their homepage. Or download it from their Downloads page. I urge you to spread the word and share it with friends and family. We can do this together before it is too late. Stop mindlessly consuming goods that are disposable, or does not have a long shelf life. And learn to really recycle. The Story of Stuff website also has a page dedicated on 10 things you can do to help with the problem.

The teaser below shows you a little bit of what is covered. Enjoy.

“The Compact” was originally a group of 10 individuals in San Francisco, who pledged not to buy anything new for an entire year. The only new products allowed are food and bare necessities for health and safety — things like toilet paper, brake fluid & underwear. Today, it has grown into an international trend that attracts follower from Bucharest to Taipei.

The Good Magazine has a pretty in depth article about them. You can join the group through their, The Compact Yahoo Group, page and see what they are up to, or visit their blog for other interesting posts.

I am truly interested in this lifestyle. Even though the pledge was to do this for one year, most people who have done it, made it a permanent part of their life. They don’t do this just for the environment, but also a way to improve the quality of life, by learning not to make impulse purchases and reuse what you have or make your own from what you already have.

Jeremy and I do spoil ourselves with new things, and that will need to change with our full time RV lifestyle. We have certainly reduced our belongings to the minimum and wish to not have to purchase anything new unless absolutely necessary.

“The Compact” seems to be a good place to start. The way we consume is not only hard on the environment, but I think it is getting hard on our spiritual selves too. The need to buy the latest and have the best seems to be embedded in the younger generation and that is just going to make things worse.

I can’t say that I will be able to stick with the 365 days of not buying anything new. But I sure will keep that in mind whenever I am in the store.

One thing I realized is that there is no recycling bins around gas stations. I think that needs to be changed! Places like gas stations and car washes should add recycling bins to help out.

With the gas prices going up and the oil companies making record profits, I am sure they have enough funds to put a few recycling bins around their stations. Especially that they do not put nearly enough funds into Research and Development (RND).

We are going to continue recycling in our RV lifestyle. I really wish that recycling is made easier by having more recycling bins around. I know it might be more overhead, but we are still not doing enough to help reduce waste.

We have been working on reducing our waste by using water filter instead of buying lots of bottled water. It is all about demand and supply.

Starting a recycling program is pretty easy for businesses. Some might claim that the cost of starting a recycling program is too high and cuts into their profit. The truth is in some states, grants are available through the Department of Conservation to help offset the cost. In all cases, companies can get money back for the bottles and cans they collect.

If given the chances, consumers would love to have the opportunity and convenience to recycle. The government and businesses just need to make it easy to do so and make it a matter of fact in our daily routines.

California has a wonderful website from the California Department of Conservation, and you can see how they are handling recycling in the Golden State.

What can we do to help push that? Ask for recycling bins. Next time you are at your local gas station, convenience store, supermarket or even the mall, ask them where the recycling bin is. If they don’t have any, ask them to put one in. If enough customers ask for recycling bins, they will pay attention and do something about it.

Or we can take it to the next step, leave the cans and bottles around the trash bin until they add recycling bins.

A good example is that enough people got tired of Styrofoam packaging McDonald’s used, they finally stopped using it and switch to paper.

Let’s make some noise and get this started!

RELATED LINKS

Recycle on the Go is an EPA initiative to encourage recycling in public places such as parks, stadiums, convention centers, airports and other transportation hubs, shopping centers, and at special events.

Coca-Cola/NRC Recycling Bin Grant Program supports local community recycling programs by providing selected grant recipients with containers for the collection of beverage container recyclables in public settings. Selected grant recipients will receive actual recycling bins instead of funding.

The National Recycling Coalition
Coalition of US organizations committed to maximizing recycling to achieve benefits of resource conservation, solid waste reduction, etc. Check out their Programs section for more information on bringing recycling to your community.

Recyclingbin.com is just one of many companies who sell recycling bins to consumers, business, events and pretty much anyone who wants to start a recycling program. Check out their testimonials for all the people starting and loving recycling program.

Earth911 – Business Recycling Program Guideline has information and guidelines about starting a recycling program within an organization.

Rumpke Recycling – Commercial and residential recycling services.