Moving to Tacoma and finding that glass recycling was not picked up curbside was a disappointment
to Maria and me, seeing as how it’s the cleanest thing to recycle. I buy food products in glass bottles over plastic whenever possible. I got on board with taking my glass to the recycle center though, which I did whenever I had a couple of bags full of glass. Then I read that it was all going to the landfill. What to do?
Maria and I had already used Ridwell, the recycling service that takes items that city recycling programs do not, while still living in Portland, and we signed up as soon as we had a house to call our own in Tacoma. I was excited when I got notice that Ridwell would pick up glass soon after I learned that the city would no longer recycle it.
Ridwell takes plastic bags, multi-layer bags (these are bags that seem plastic but they are made of multiple layers, items like chip bags and candy wrappers), batteries, lightbulbs, old clothing and
other fabric items. For an extra fee, they will take clamshells and styrofoam. In addition, every pick up (which is every two weeks) they have a special category. Upcoming categories are jewelry, CDs and DVDs, holiday lights and decorations, and keys. When they can they take donate-able items, such
as wearable bras.
I hope that the conversation does not end here because this is not an option for everyone. Ridwell costs extra that not everyone has, and it is more affordable to just throw out their glass and other recyclables. It is not sustainable for us all to continue living that way, however.
Find more info about Ridwell and sign up for a plan at www.ridwell.com.
~Elizabeth Schroeder
