Hello PCG Sierra Club Horsetooth
Half Marathon Volunteers and thank you for working with us on this important
event. Please read this information and take a copy with you to your Zero Waste
Station.
Some history: last year, PCG
teamed up with Green Events and Gallegos Sanitation Inc. to render local foot
races as close to Zero Waste as possible. For the most part, this consisted of
staffing a number of Zero Waste stations and focusing on composting and
recycling while limiting landfill-bound trash. The events were very successful
in all regards: raising public recycling/composting consciousness, diverting
hundreds of pounds of discarded material from the landfill, and raising a good
sum of money for PCG while publicly demonstrating our commitment to a clean
environment.
How it works: You will staff
a Zero Waste station that will have three separate receptacles: one each for
composting, recycling and landfill-bound waste. Your objective is to maximize
on composting and recycling, hold other waste to a serious minimum.
Recycle:
·
Narrow-neck
bottles and their caps.
·
Wide-mouth
containers.
·
Paper – including newspaper, paper bags, cardboard, non-waxy
paper or cardboard
·
Glass – all bottles and jars (If necessary, sling residue
in the compost bin before depositing.) Avoid breakage
·
Metals – aluminum and tin cans, flattened and clean aluminum
foil, metal bottle lids and caps
·
Cardboard – stomp the heck out of boxes
Compost:
· Almost anything that you’d decompose for your garden
· Most race-related liquid containers – paper and coffee
cups
· Degradable garbage – food waste
· Napkins, paper towels, paper plates, etc.
· Liquids – DON’T empty partially-filled containers on
ground – just drop them in the bin
Trash – this is the catchall
for materials that don’t fit either of the above. We want to keep this well
below 10% of our total collection.
· Goo-packs –
there will be lots of these half-slurped energy boosters. Just trash them
· Plastic bags, Styrofoam, Saran Wrap
· Waxy stuff
–paper or cardboard
· If in doubt – toss it out Yes, we want minimal trash, but it is necessary to
keep the compost/recycle bins free of unacceptable material – e.g. a gunky
aluminum container
Handy hints:
· Involve the public in your effort – be willing to show
folks which of the bins to use. Watch out for occasional miscreants who will
slide up behind you and chuck something in the wrong bin.
· Learn to move quickly – at times you will be required
to handle a lot of incoming materials with little time to sort things out.
· Wear gloves – we want to play in the trash, we don’t
want to be in too-close contact with it.
· Check your bins frequently – move items to other bins
as needed
· Enjoy yourself – this is actually a fun-filled
activity – many laughs.
Did we say thank you? THANK YOU MANY TIMES OVER
Shane Davis, Chair
Poudre Canyon Group, Sierra Club
509 – 570 -4422
John Gascoyne
Zero Waste king
PCG ExCom
