Recycling Day! (18-Nov-2016)

I had been wanting to do a recycling day for a couple weeks. The conditions have to be right, with no chance of rain or wind. Finally I got a nice clear day and piled everything in the yard for the sort. There were 14 bags, one sack and a bin full of items to sort through and count, all of which was collected since my last recycling day on September 8th. 

Since I started doing these recycling sorts I have come up with a couple tricks to quicken the process. Not stopping for as many photos is one of them. The process still takes a lot of time though and with the shorter days I still wasn't sure I would finish before the sun went down. Luckily it did go fairly quick and it was just getting dark when I took the last load down to the recycling center.

In total on this sort I had 3,243 recyclable items. This broke down to 1,625 aluminum cans, 1,190 plastic bottles, 388 glass bottles, 30 plastic jugs, 6 plastic oil containers and 4 steel cans. 

The grand total for the year now stands at 15,779 recyclable items this project has taken out of our waters and off of our trails here in Eastern PA. I have not done all of this alone and have had help on multiple clean-ups from Leigh Ann Stratakos, Tyler Sacks and Jeffery Greco throughout the year. The clean-ups will continue and I am pretty sure I will at least top 16,000 removed recyclable items by the end of the year! 
You too can help with taking out the trash! If you get out hiking take a grocery bag with you, give it a second use and fill it with trash while you are out! Every bit helps. You can also help contributing to this project here: Help Fund Taking Out the Trash

Like this project? Like it on Facebook: Taking Out the Trash in Eastern PA

Recycling Day! (8-Sept-2016)

Since July 7th I had accumulated a good amount of recyclables. A recycling day was well overdue. My car needed a minor repair and while I was waiting to get it back I decided it was time for a recycling sort. Had around twenty bags to go through and I knew it was going to take me awhile. 

As always on my recycling days I sorted out the plastic bottles, plastic jugs, aluminum cans, oil containers and glass bottles. 

It took around five hours to get all of the bags sorted and all of the items counted.

In total there ended up being 2,828 recyclable items collected since July 7th. 1,282 plastic bottles, 1,258 aluminum cans, 245 glass bottles, 39 plastic milk/tea jugs and 4 plastic oil containers. This brought this years total to 12,536 recyclable items this project has removed from our waterways and natural areas here in Eastern Pennsylvania. 

This does not included recyclables collected on the Wildlands Conservancy clean-ups or the clean-ups I have done in Montgomery County. Wildlands properly disposed of the recyclables on their trips and the recyclables collected in Montgomery County were disposed of their due to me not wanting to possible transport a non-native insect pest that has been discovered in that area. I also have to thank Leigh Ann Stratakos, Tyler Sacks, Jeffrey Greco and Andrew Curtis, all who have helped with clean-ups since July 7th. 

I think 12,536 is a pretty good number of recyclables removed from our waterways and natural areas so far this year, but there is always more to be done. The clean-ups will continue!

You too can help with taking out the trash! If you get out hiking take a grocery bag with you, give it a second use and fill it with trash while you are out! Every bit helps. You can also help contributing to this project here: Help Fund Taking Out the Trash

Like this project? Like it on Facebook: Taking Out the Trash in Eastern PA

Recycling Day! (7-July-2016)

Generally I wouldn't do a recycling day until I had accumulated about twenty bags of recyclables. Wanted to dispose of all of this before I left for NCJCS. Just over 11 bags full and I was trying to get this task accomplished as quickly as possible. Had some things to get done in the afternoon in preparation for camp.

One bag after the next I got all these recyclables sorted out. Being pressed for time I did not photograph the process this time, just the start and the end. 

In total there were 1,755 recyclable items taken off our waterways and trails since the last recycling day on May 11th. The break down was 949 plastic bottles, 646 aluminum cans, 136 glass bottles, 19 plastic tea/milk jugs, 3 plastic oil containers and two steel cans. For the year this brings the grand total to 9,708 recyclable items this project has removed! 

I am fairly certain the next post won't be up until NCJCS ends on the 16th, posts may not be up until the 17th or 18th. It does take some time to sort photos and upload everything. 

You too can help with taking out the trash! If you get out hiking take a grocery bag with you, give it a second use and fill it with trash while you are out! Every bit helps. You can also help contributing to this project here: Help Fund Taking Out the Trash

Like this project? Like it on Facebook: Taking Out the Trash in Eastern PA

Recycling Day! (11-May-2016)

Had 27 bags of recyclables to sort through today. All were collected since March 16th. I have wanted to do a recycling day for some time now, but every time I planned one the weather would not cooperate. 

Just like picking up all of these recyclables, sorting them too, takes time. 

The sort and taking the plastics and glass to the recycling center took a little over seven hours. 

This was definitely the highest amount of cans I have had on any recycling day on this blog. 

In total there were 3,425 recyclable items. 1,669 aluminum cans, 1,455 plastic bottles, 244 glass bottles, 31 plastic milk/tea jugs and 26 plastic oil containers. 

This recycling day brings the years total up to 7,950 recyclable items taken out of our environment and disposed of properly. This is in addition to all of the non-recyclables and 62 tires removed from our state parks.  

You too can help with taking out the trash! If you get out hiking take a grocery bag with you, give it a second use and fill it with trash while you are out! Every bit helps. You can also help contributing to this project here: Help Fund Taking Out the Trash

Like this blog? Like it on Facebook: Taking Out the Trash in Eastern PA

Recycling Day! (7-Feb-2016)

The first Recycling Day of 2016. I had just over twenty bags to sort through and I never thought in winter I would have this much. Waited for the perfect day with no wind and high enough temperatures to make it bearable sorting trash for many hours. 

I didn't remember picking up this many glass bottles. Last year I avoided glass, not wanting to deal with broken glass on these sorting days. With all of these I only had four or five bottles that broke and dealing with it wasn't that bad.

In total there were 2,381 recyclable items and one full bag of garbage. The recyclables included 928 aluminum cans, 884 plastic bottles, 533 glass bottles, 20 plastic jugs and 16 plastic oil containers. This was all taken from trailsides and riverbanks. There is always more work to be done and this was just the start for this year!

You too can help with taking out the trash! If you get out hiking take a grocery bag with you, give it a second use and fill it with trash while you are out! Every bit helps. You can also help contributing to this project here: Help Fund Taking Out the Trash

Recycling Day (21-Dec-2015)

This is what I collected since the last recycling day I did just last week on the 15th. I honestly can't believe it is December and I am still able to get out and collect this much. Just over twelve bags total in six days, I think that is pretty good. Doing these trash stacks isn't easy, I had to set this one up a second time after the first try toppled before I could get a shot. Some of the ones earlier in the year were much more of a challenge. The stack really is a bit of fun before sorting through what sometimes can be nasty trash.  

The bags from the hiking trips were simple. I had sorted them on site at the parks before I put them in my car. The roadside bags are not as simple and contained a lot of non-recyclable plastics and styrofoam. 

This sort went fairly quickly. Not a single glass bottle broke in the whole process, which made the sort a little more pleasant. 

Normally I would wait longer before I did a trash sort, but like I said on the last recycling day post I want to get all of my recyclables to the center before the holidays. There was barely any room in the receptacles today and it will just get worse.

In total there were 1,340 collected and two full bags of non-recyclables. For the break down, there was 823 plastic bottles, 377 aluminum cans, 100 glass bottles, 28 plastic jugs and 12 plastic oil containers. For the rest of the week the clean-ups are going to be smaller. There is rain in the forecast so I am going to stick to trails and stay off of the roadside. 

You too can help with taking out the trash! If you get out hiking take a grocery bag with you, give it a second use and fill it with trash while you are out! Every bit helps. You can also help contributing to this project here: Help Fund Taking Out the Trash

Recycling Day (15-Dec-2015)

These are the bags of recyclables collected since November 18th. This does not include two bags that others helped me get to recycling and a couple bags of non-recyclables. I know this isn't as big as some of my other recycling days this year, I still think it is a decent amount. 

In total there were 1,578 recyclable items, 876 bottles, 591 cans, 33 jugs, 12 oil containers, 4 steel cans and 62 glass bottles. There were also two full bags of non-recyclables, they were mostly styrofoam, jugs that have started to photodegrade and plastics that were not recyclable in this area.   

A lot of kids sand toys. I think the Gonzo I found this past week was the best toy find so far. This was the first time I started collecting glass all year. It did not work out that bad. Only one broken bottle by today, weight will still be an issue in the future collecting glass. I can only carry so much so far. Still no snow so I will continue collecting until I can't. I may make daily recycling trips now, the recycling center is generally full for some time after Christmas and I don't want to be holding onto a bunch of trash. The next recycling day post might not be until Spring of 2016.

You too can help with taking out the trash! If you get out hiking take a grocery bag with you, give it a second use and fill it with trash while you are out! Every bit helps. You can also help contributing to this project here: Help Fund Taking Out the Trash

Recycling Day! (18-Nov-2015)

Almost fifteen full bags over the past couple weeks. Without the river days the amount of trash I am able to collect has dropped, but that was to be expected. In total for today's sort there were 1,443 items, 738 plastic bottles, 637 aluminum cans, 43 plastic jugs, 21 glass bottles and 4 plastic oil containers. By the end of the sort there was also two full garbage bags of non-recyclables. On the hikes I have been trying to pick up almost everything. 

The pile fully sorted. Small in comparison to the sort piles over the summer. I think this time I had more cans than any of those though.

You too can help with taking out the trash! If you get out hiking take a grocery bag with you, give it a second use and fill it with trash while you are out! Every bit helps. You can also help contributing to this project at:gofundme.com/takingoutthetrash

Recycling Day! (4-Nov-2015)

It has been a couple weeks since I have done a recycling sort and this afternoon was nice so I grabbed the bags and got started. Only about 14 full bags and today wasn't nearly as time consuming as the past couple sorts with the massive amounts from the Schuylkill. In total there were 1094 plastic bottles, 433 cans, 34 jugs, 19 oil containers and I ended up with two bags of non-recyclable items. The non-recyclables were mostly jugs that had started to photo-degrade, styrofoam containers and assorted wrappers and other items picked up on hikes. 

My last Schuylkill trip was included in this sort and I found that I much prefer sorting hiking recyclables to river recyclables. 

Not as much trash as previous sorts, but this still took several hours to sort and take to the recycling depot. 

In all there were 1,580 items in this sort not including pots, glass bottles and items I decided should not go to recycling. I think for Fall this was a pretty nice haul. The upcoming sorts will probably be smaller. I just don't find as much trash hiking as I do paddling. 

Do you know of natural areas that need a good Fall cleaning? If so leave a comment or e-mail me at jrb2765@gmail.com and I will do my best to get to it. Always looking for new places to go!

You too can help with taking out the trash! If you get out hiking take a grocery bag with you, give it a second use and fill it with trash while you are out! Every bit helps. You can also help contributing to this project at: gofundme.com/takingoutthetrash