Norfolk recycles?

Since moving here last September, I have seen so few public or private recycling programs that when I got an email a few weeks back with a subject line of “New Rcycling Service for Norfolk Residents!” I thought… wait a second… there was an old program?

To get to the bottom of all this I emailed with Holly Carson, the education manager of Keep Norfolk Beautiful.

AltDaily: You are the education manager for Keep Norfolk Beautiful. Tell us a little bit about Keep Norfolk Beautiful, and what you do.

Without recycling it all ends up here.

Holly Carson: Keep Norfolk Beautiful is an agency of the City of Norfolk which coordinates recycling and litter prevention programs, among other environmental initiatives such as green living and wetland enhancement. We have three full-time and two part-time staff members. My position as the Education Manager is to coordinate and provide educational opportunities for residents, adults and youth alike. Last year we provided environmental education to nearly 10,000 students, DIY workshops to dozens of residents and trainings to hundreds of local teachers. Most programs are free of charge or at-cost. In addition, I coordinate our public relations and marketing efforts, creating literature, maintaining our website, and on-line social media, as well as appearing on local talk shows (radio & television) to promote our programs.

I’ve lived in three different apartments in my 18 months in Norfolk, and none of them had anything close to a discernible recycling program. What exactly are the recycling laws in Norfolk?

There aren’t any residential recycling laws, per se. Recycling is voluntary in the private sector. Recycling is a service residents requested long ago, and the City provides as part of an integrated waste management system. It’s available to single-family homes and multi-family buildings consisting of 4 units or less, who have a utilities account with the City. Apartment buildings typically contract waste removal services through a private company, coordinated by the landlord or property manager. If the occupants of the apartment building would like a recycling option, they need to request it through the landlord or property manager, who will contract it through another private recycling company. If that isn’t an option, Norfolk has two drop-off centers available 24/7 to residents – (1) 17^th St. & Colonial Ave.; (2) Security Lane off of North Military Highway. A third located at the Wal Mart on Tidewater Drive is scheduled to open soon.

What resources does the City make available to individuals or properties looking to recycle? Bins? Special dumpsters?

The first thing they can do is contact our office – 441-1347, recycle@norfolk.gov. For residents in a single-family home or multi-family building with 4 units or less, we can coordinate delivery of a recycling cart directly to their home. We can provide contact information for several private companies who can provide services for those who would like to work with their landlord or property manager.

Let’s say I’m your average citizen in Norfolk and I want to start recycling my household trash. Where do I start? How do I make it easy on myself?

KNB Volunteers. (Photo | Avery Easter)

The first thing you can do, if you don’t already have your cart, is to contact our office (441-1347, recycle@norfolk.gov) so we can help you get started. If you have a cart and are unsure what can go inside, check the lid. All materials accepted for recycling are listed on the lid of the recycling cart. These items include: Newspaper, glass (clear, brown and green), plastic bottles & jugs, steel cans, unwanted mail, cardboard, magazines, telephone books, and aluminum cans, pie plates and foil. Then set up a bin in your home designated just for recycling and make sure it’s emptied regularly into the blue recycling cart.

Collection occurs the same day as your trash day, but every other week, so remembering when to place your cart at the curb can be tricky (don’t rely on your neighbor, they can get it wrong too). Residents can find out when their collection occurs several ways:

1. Check online at http://www.norfolk.gov/curbside_recycling/default.asp
2. Email knb@norfolk.gov with your street address to receive a Recycle E-minder in your Inbox the Friday before your collection.
3. Call 441-1347 to request a calendar in the mail

Unless I’m missing something, I find it disappointing that there aren’t recycling receptacles throughout Downtown. Given that Downtown is sort of the ‘face’ of Norfolk, this sends a very un-green message about us as a city. Is anything being done about this?

We field a lot of requests from residents and businesses in the downtown section of Norfolk for more available recycling, and this service has been discussed. Because it involves a separate container, which can double the area taken up by waste, space is the main issue for buildings and businesses. The same is true for pedestrian recycling, but it also requires additional maintenance, containers and staff, which at the moment the City is unable to provide due to current economic conditions.

So far these questions have been rather negative. Please tell me something that will make me and our readers feel like Norfolk is trying to be ahead of the curve when it comes to recycling and green living.

From an Electronics Recycling Day (photo | Holly Carson)

Since implementing the current curbside recycling program 6 years ago, Norfolk’s participation rate jumped very quickly from 26% to 56%, higher than the national average. The City is always reviewing additional recycling options and looking at other cities to see what works, what doesn’t and why. As a result, and in response to a demonstrated need, the City has opened its on-going E-waste and HHW collection facility (more below), the first of its kind in Hampton Roads.

In addition, the City has incorporated green building into its planning and design, so that all new City structures may include LEED features. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a certification designated by the US Green Building Council. Our office collaborates with the Hampton Roads chapter, and our offices at the Ernie Morgan Center (EMC) are currently undergoing certification. The reason? The EMC , located in Lafayette Park in front of the Virginia Zoo, is provided as an example of green building, gardening and living techniques as a resource for Norfolk residents.

There’s a new recycling program in Norfolk that accepts hazardous waste and electronics. Tell me about this.

The first of its kind in Hampton Roads, the new E-waste and HHW Collection Facility was opened partly in response to a growing need from residents to conveniently recycle or safely dispose of electronics and household hazardous waste. Electronics is the largest growing portion of the world’s waste stream. Over the last few years, KNB has coordinated several electronics recycling events, all overwhelmingly popular with residents grateful to relieve attics, basements and garages of broken down electronics they knew shouldn’t end up in the landfill. Over 500 vehicles appeared at each event, with hundreds of thousands of pounds collected.

The new facility, open Mon.-Sat. 10am-2pm provides Norfolk residents significantly more convenient opportunities to dispose of both electronics and household hazardous waste. As an added bonus, it’s a more cost-effective method for this type of disposal, thus making better use of tax-payer dollars.

I have artist and DIY-er friends who are keen to have access to construction and other interesting types of waste. Is there any sort of program, or place, where one can access these kinds of materials?

Not in Norfolk yet, but maybe one day.

My recommendation is to contact local manufacturers to learn what their factory cuttings consist of and if you can take some of those off their hands. In my experience, they are pretty happy to help out local teachers and artists with requests. And depending on the amount someone is looking for, it can save the manufacturer money on waste removal!  One company, Waterway Recycling LLC, accepts construction and demolition material and provides it as product, but I recommend people call ahead of time to find out what’s available.

Are there any businesses or individuals you can point to in Norfolk that are doing an especially good job with recycling?

That’s hard to do, only because so many are doing such a great job, and enthusiastically no less, plus I just know there are tons more out there we know nothing about. And we would love to know! Each year, we hold our annual Clean City Cookout, which recognizes individuals, businesses, and other organizations for their environmental efforts. And since we encourage shameless self-promotion, if your readers are passionate about caring for our environment, or know someone who is, we would love to provide the opportunity to nominate.

Last question. If you could, leave us with some maybe unconventional or unconsidered ways that people can add recycling and/or re-using to their everyday lives.

We frequently get queries from residents who want to do even more, wondering how to recycle items not currently accepted in their curbside cart, and we do our best to help them find an option. For example, residents can drop oyster shells from roasts in a container at the Larchmont Library, and the used oyster shells will then be used to help prepare oyster reefs in the Elizabeth, Lafayette and Lynnhaven rivers. Green Alternatives (inside the Five Points Community Farmers Market) accepts toothbrushes whose handles will be recycled into new toothbrushes. Medical equipment (walkers, crutches, etc.) is accepted by Physicians for Peace (229 W. Bute St.).

Additionally, KNB is collaborating with Green Alternatives and Children’s Harbor in an Arts-N-Scraps facility (located at Children’s Harbor, Norfolk). We collect non-recycling materials from local manufacturers and residents to create educational tools for teachers to use in their classroom. At the moment, we’re looking for those little horseshoe-shaped bread bag clips for an upcoming math workshop.