Votes Yes on Denver initiative 306 – Waste No More

Photo by Waste No More Denver | Used by permission

CoPIRG is calling on Denverites to vote yes on initiative 306 and extend recycling and composting services to every business and resident in Denver.

Denver’s recycling rate is downright trashy. The city only diverts 26% of our waste away from landfills. That may be better than our state’s recycling rate of 15%, but it’s still bad when you consider approximately 75% of our waste could be composted (banana peels, apple cores, leaves, yard waste) or easily recycled (cardboard, aluminum, glass, etc).

One major reason – lack of convenient access. While there is a trash bin in every store, park, apartment and home that gets picked up, only homeowners and a few businesses in Denver have access to recycling or composting.

Waste No More will require that businesses and apartments provide recycling and composting services, filling the gaps in our current recycling system.

Throwing things away that could be composted or recycled is not only wasteful but comes with a huge cost

• It requires ever-growing landfills
• Those landfills produce dangerous methane and other pollution
• Every pound of recycled material that fails to get reused means more virgin material that needs to be mined, logged, or drilled for, which comes with additional environmental costs
• Every pound of organic material that fails to get composted is a missed opportunity to create healthy soils and a natural counter to climate change that draws down carbon dioxide

We have a waste problem at a time when so much of our waste can be reused.

When you have something to throw away, you should have the ability to recycle it, compost it or if necessary, throw it in a trash can. That requires bins.

By ensuring every Denverite has access to a recycling and composting bin whether they live in a home or apartment or are out shopping or at a festival in the park, we will significantly boost our diversion rates and reduce the need to produce new stuff.

Vote yes on initiative 306 – let’s waste no more.