Tracy Sullivan has always recycled plastic and glass bottles,
and aluminum cans at her Villa Luna Apartment in Hollister. But
thanks to the Monterey Bay Area Regional Multifamily Recycling
Project, she and many of her neighbors are now recycling cardboard,
newspapers and many of the plastic containers in which food or
other items come.
Tracy Sullivan has always recycled plastic and glass bottles, and aluminum cans at her Villa Luna Apartment in Hollister. But thanks to the Monterey Bay Area Regional Multifamily Recycling Project, she and many of her neighbors are now recycling cardboard, newspapers and many of the plastic containers in which food or other items come.
She has trash cans in her backyard that she uses to sort out the items that she takes in for cash, such as cans and bottles. But now she has two small blue bins in her kitchen that fill up with paper and other plastic waste.
“It’s small enough, the kids can take it out,” she said. “I just tell them to make sure not to go in a full bin.”
Ecology Action, a nonprofit advocacy group from Santa Cruz County, received a three-year grant that is coming to completion in June to address recycling in multifamily residences. Staff members from Ecology Action have worked with waste management agencies, haulers who collect trash and recyclables, and property managers to implement recycling programs where none existed.
The grant was originally given to do outreach on recycling to low-income multifamily complexes in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties. San Benito was eventually added to the project, and the range increased beyond low-income complexes.
Matthew Greenfield, the media program specialist for Ecology Action, said the focus of the grant came about because while 70 percent of single-family homes in California recycle, only 40 percent of multifamily homes do.
Since she started using her bins, Sullivan said her family has to empty them three times a week. She said her waste items are about 50 percent recyclables and 50 percent trash.
“Almost everything you throw away can be recycled,” she said.
Overall, the outreach team met with residents from 290 complexes in Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties. Of those visited, 161 multifamily sites, including complexes in Hollister and San Juan, implemented programs where none existed.
In San Benito, the team visited 42 facilities and has implemented the program with 523 units (apartments or townhomes.) They still have 25 more facilities to visit before the grant is completed in June.
“The primary mission was an educational mission and supplying the tools,” Greenfield said. “With the grant funding we were able to get tons of recycle bins and put stickers about what is recyclable.”
See the full story in the Pinnacle on Friday.
