This week’s pictures are courtesy of Susan Fife-Ferris. Thanks Susan!

I was inspired to send some of my recycling pictures in from our trip to Europe this past summer. We traveled all over, and the pictures I’m attaching are of collection containers in the park by the Eiffel Tower in Paris, collection in the canals of Venice, Italy, drop-off containers in Olympia, Greece, and (the blurry one) drop-off containers in the streets of Naples, Italy. My husband and kids think I’m a bit crazy since I’m always taking pictures of the recycling facilities and other utilities infrastructure wherever we go.

This picture was originally published in a San Juan County News release. It is being published here to accompany the article published in this week’s newsletter.

Thanks Craig Benton for sending in these pictures!
Not to be out done by Eden Mack (sorry for getting it wrong and using Mercer the past few times Eden!), I am attaching a few pictures from an art show I stumbled upon while visiting the charming town of Colmar in the Alsace area of France in September. All of the art pieces are made from recycled materials. The one outside was particularly interesting with a metal sculpture of a woman within a dumpster. So this is what they are up to here as well. Some of the art can actually be used as furniture or luggage..check it out.

Thank you Rob VanOrsow for submitting these pictures!
A look back 20+ years - “State of the Art” curbside recycling and processing in Bellingham WA, circa 1986.

A total of 10 boxes were carried on the flat bed. All materials were sorted into the boxes on route as they were collected. No such thing as commingled recycling back then. The totes in the back held Mixed Paper. As the blue boxes filled, plywood slats were added - which increased loading height. It helped to be tall. There were low side racks for cases of refillable beer bottles and scrap metal - & maybe even motor oil? You didn’t want to make too sharp a turn with this set up.

Fibers were often ‘processed’ right off the truck into totes. Compaction was done manually via the stomp method. Cardboard was flattened and stuck in-between the blue boxes while on route. If there were more stops left on the route that day, the boxes could be swapped for empties, but it was best to “get it all in one load.”

Storage for processed materials. This site was shared with WWU’s recycling center. Paper was stored under cover in totes, and glass was sorted by color (often by work-release Juvenile Detention kids) & then crushed into barrels. The full barrels were raised high with the forklift, and then a tug on a rope tipped the barrel into the trailer used to haul the cullet to market. Totes were easier to deal with - they were just loaded into vans using the forklift and pallet jacks.