A Little Background
One of the challenges we've faced as a shoppe since the very beginning is dealing with the amount of waste we produce as part of our operations. From cardboard shipping boxes to empty soda cans, we produce a lot of garbage that mostly ends up in the local landfill.
Unfortunately, our building is not equipped to offer recycling pick up, and we've been unsuccesful in finding a recycling service that is willing and able to deal with a single store front in a shared building.
After exhausting all our other options, we reached out to our local BSA Venture Crew 20 to ask for help, and they've graciously offered to step up and work with us on this project.
What's Happening In the Shoppe
The next time you arrive in the shoppe, you'll notice two new blue recycling containers. They'll be labeled “recycling” as soon as they send us the labels they forgot to send us the first time. 🙂 They have a round hole in the top to help folks understand that they're for our cans and bottled product – anything you pull out of the drink fridges can be tossed in those two bins when you're done with them.
Please understand; Other things will fit in the opening put we ask that you only put plastic and glass bottles, as well as soda cans, in these containers. Our coffee cups, for example, are compostable, not recyclable, so they should go in the normal trash cans.
Behind the Scenes
In our back alley (by the priming station), we'll be adding an additional storage bin for holding the recycled material separate from general waste. Venture Crew 20 will collect that recycling weekly, sort it appropriately, and deliver it to the local center.
Packing Material Recycling and Reuse
Beyond the waste generated during events and activities in the shoppe, we're working with other local businesses to help reuse the packing material from our shipments. We've already established an agreement with Going Postal across the street; they'll be taking our plastic air-pack material and reusing that for their shipments.
For cardboard and other materials, we're still looking for other businesses who can use them. In the meantime, anything we can't reuse will be taken to the recycling center by the Venture Crew.
How You Can Help
The most important request we have of our guests is this: Please don't put other recyclables (or non-recyclable material) in the new bins. We'll do our best to add bins and services to recycle smaller cardboard items and plastic wrap but, in this first step, we need to make sure we can manage the process and not over-burden the scouts who are performing this service for us.
Additionally, if you know of a local business that would benefit from gently used cardboard shipping boxes and other packing material, please send them our way. We would love to get more use out of these boxes.
And, of course, please remember to toss your empty cans and bottles in the new blue recycling cans!
Next Steps
Starting this first phase of recycling is a major step for us, and we're happy to finally be able to offer the service to all of our guests, especially those that have been asking about it for so long.
Beyond these first two bins, we'll be looking for other ways to manage recyclable material in our shoppe. If you have suggestions, we'd love to hear from you.
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