Lincolnite

Thanks for posting this. I saw a sign for https://www.recyclebank.com/ this morning on a neighbor’s trash can, but (presumably because I just moved in) I haven’t gotten one of their post cards, and I’m not sure what other options exist. I’m sick of hauling recycling myself to the recycling locations. 😛

I live in south salt creek (around 8th and Garfield), anyone have any experience with recycling pickup there?

I use RecycleLink (the local version affiliated with RecycleBank.

So far, I would say that I love it. Here’s why I chose it over the LJS:

1) I don’t want to give the LJS any more money than I currently do.
2) I like the fact that I have a full rolling can and not just a small bin that I have to carry and worry about blowing away. My can is often full, and the little LJS bins wouldn’t cut it, I don’t think.
3) It’s cheaper - $8 a month. I dropped my overall bill a little because I was able to cut my regular garbage from 2x a week to 1x a week.
4) They offer reward points. I haven’t converted any, but you can convert for coupons or other things. If you look at http://www.recyclebank.com you can get an idea of the rewards. Would still be a deal without this.

The only disadvantate that I can see vs. LJS: LJS does take all plastics and glass. There are a handful of plastics, such as that big condom the LJS comes in, that my company won’t take. It’s not a big deal to me. The pros outweigh that con.

I’ve mentioned it here before. I am certainly no tree-hugger. However, I am amazed at the volume of stuff that goes into my recycling can vs. my regular garbage now. I used to have 2x weekly pick-up, and my can would often be 2/3s full one or both times. Now, once a week, it’s usually only half full. And that’s with one child still in diapers.

Meanwhile, my recyclelinc can is usually 1/2 to completely full.

You can learn more and sign-up here: http://recyclelink.net/

I use the Journal Star recycling and its been a good service for me. The recycle bank is a neat idea but they do NOT take glass and some plastics. This is a total deal breaker for me b/c glass is a decent portion of my recyclables. And if there is one service that picks up everything versus one that picks up most things, I’m going to choose the guys that will take it all. 
My goal is to recycle as much as I can and since the other services don’t take everything they won’t help me reduce my waste as much as possible.

It is amazing to see how much actual trash you really produce when you start to recycle. Nowadays I never have to take my garbage out when it fills up, instead i have to throw it out when it starts to stink. I know some people that have started recycling and end up cutting their trash service back to once a week as a result.  Once you get into the habit its hard to stop.

I drag everything to a city bin myself - 3 kinds of paper separation, 3 colors of glass separation, steel cans and plastics. Aluminum goes to A-Can for donation to the Humane Soc. I know that not all types of plastics are accepted (like 6-pack rings - those get cut open and trashed, though I need to do something different with them). It’s a bit time-consuming, but I’m cheap enough to not want to pay someone to haul off something they make money on.
I get by with one trip every two weeks or so (a truck helps).
P.S. Karin - Hi neighbor (9th & Rose)

We thought of that, too, but all my other reasons above offset the glass. Amazingly, we maybe only discard one glass container a week. Maybe two if someone has a beer. If I had more, I’d probably still bag it and take it to the drop site on my own. There is very little plastic that we end up throwing away that would could recycle with LJS. Kind of depends on the products you buy I guess.

If the LJS had a full can and was the same price, I would have gone with them.

We also save all the bags from Target, the grocery stores, etc. and reuse or recycle them at the stores.

It is amazing what you can avoid sending to the trash heap.

Check out Star City recycling.  They are a little more expensive but their service is great and they take almost everything.

I’ve used Recycling Enterprises for more than five years.  They take virtually everything.  They do use the small bin, but with two people and no newspaper, it is usually adequate. 

$9/month, billed every 3 months, works fine for me.

We have an ongoing grudge with the LJS, so I will not use their services.  On our five-house cul-de-sac, three houses recycle: one LJS, one RecycleLink, one Recycling Enterprises.  I don’t want to think of the fossil fuel ramifications of that. 😊

Matt- Do you use the bin at 12th and South? Driving it in probably wouldn’t be too big a deal if we managed to do it more than once every few months. 😛

Karin - Yeah, it’s the one back by Trabert Hall and behind the old hospital chapel.

Thanks!  I have been looking into Recyclebank ever since I saw it on Oprah about a month ago.  It seems like Coke Rewards, but with trash instead of bottlecaps. 😊

After several unsuccessful attempts to recycle (not easy with roommates who are unwilling to sort), I am back on the wagon & recycling again.  So far, we’re hauling it ourselves.

Fletch - You said you haven’t converted any points yet - but I’m wondering about the value of the points.  Can you give me an example of what I can get for 10 lbs. of recyclables??  What’s the exchange rate of my garbage to Target Gift Cards?

the exchange rate isn’t too hot. I think you get 1 point per pound. I’ve amassed 817 points since February. That’s equivalent (according to them) of saving 1.4 trees and nearly 94 gallons of oil. For 35 points, I can get $7 off $70 at target.com.

For 50 points, I could get $5 off $25 at the Lincoln Children’s Museum. 50 points would get you $5 off $25 at FourStar. 150 points gets your 250 Coke Reward points.

you get the idea. Not great, but still, it offsets the $8 a month. Also, I saved $2-3 a month on garbage, and I am keeping stuff out of the landfill.

I <3 Target bags so much.  There simply is not a better plastic bag from a store.  I have even blogged about them.  Last time I was at Target I swooned about them to the cashier and he threw in a few extras.

I use my trash provider, Midwest Refuse, who also has a recycling service.  My only complaint is they don’t take glass.  I had a buddy that used to work there so I actually get the service free so really shouldn’t be complaining at all.

I use Star City Recycling and they take almost everything.  I never have to sort or rinse anything out (but I do because it smells unless I do). They pick up once or twice weekly and you can use their bin or you can use a trash bin and label it “recycling” and they take that also.  I own a business and our fee is $20 monthly, and we recycle a LOT!

Matt,

I’m not familiar with the A-Can/Humane Society connection. Can you fill me in?

We’ve done this for a few years this way - don’t recall where we heard about it. When you take a quantity of cans in, you can just say that the payout should go to Capital Humane Soc. They collect and periodically make a donation to CHS. There’s certainly a level of trust involved, and I’ve never really checked them out with CHS. I suppose now I’ll have to look into it again.

I agree with the endorsement of Star City Recycling.

I’ll jump on the Star City Recycling bandwagon too. When we first moved to Lincoln I just did my own recycling since that was what I was used to doing in other towns.

After awhile we decided to use Midwest Recycling. I got fed up with them kicking back so much material to me for whatever reasons they may have had.

Several years ago I switched to Star City Recycling and I love these guys! They communicate really well and they take almost everything. We sort quite a bit, but not everything and they never kick it back to us for not having it properly sorted.

I also use Star City Recycling and love them. They really do take almost anything, and if you’re unsure, you toss it in the bin and the curbside sorting staff will leave it in there if they can’t take it.

I also echo the sentiments on reduction in trash. If I composted, I’d have almost no trash at all…

I’m a RecycleLink Fan.  We’ve had it for less than 8 months and have earned enough points to earn 5 boxes of cereal, a dozen free cookies from Eileens, 2 loaves of bread, a 8 pk. of Paper towels, and still have enough points to get $20 worth of gift cards to several retailers.  Plus, I like having a huge container I can roll out to the street once/week, rather than a small container I have to store in my house.

I’ll give you that! I (as a Star City user) would much rather have a 50 gallon rolling recycling bin than the little yellow ones I drag in/out each week.

Do you have to buy the rolling bin?

The cart is part of the service. Just toss your recyclables in the cart and wheel it to the curb. Its that simple. http://www.recyclelink.net

The exchange is easily summed up by saying each pound recycled earns you $0.27 in discounts. You choose where redeem your discounts. Some examples are
Runza - Buy 0ne Get one Free - 100 points
LaMars Donuts - $2 off $10+ - 30 Points
Gordman’s - $5 off $30 + - 30 Points

A typical household in Lincoln will earn about 230 points a month generating savings of about $25 a month easily offsetting the costs of the service and then some.

We signed up last wed or thurs and are awaiting out bin.  We already have a trashcan full of recyclables waiting to fill the sucker up.  Figure it should show up any day now.

Ended up canceling one of our trash bins, so this will save us $ every month.  Seems like a great deal.

How much glass do you really have? Did you know glass is the least harmful item we put into the landfill? It is made of sand so there is no leaching or bad chemicals released into the earth when it breaks down. Besides recycling glass takes some much energy to convert back into new glass that it is actually best if glass is produced from sand rather than recycled glass.