It was a freakishly warm and very windy day. Driving back from Dillon on Highway 93, it was difficult to keep the car on the road. Debris such as plastic swimming pools and construction materials blew across the road, making it challenging to keep the car on the highway. As we neared Boulder, the road […]
landfill
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Denver Council should approve proposed trash and composting program
Most of us have plenty to think about besides the impact our trash has on our local environment after we take it to the curb. But the urgency of climate change has been harder to ignore: The growing number of days over 100 degrees. The drought impacting our treasured mountain snowpack. The heat impacting our […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, News
Colorado has a dismal recycling rate. Could a fee on manufacturers turn things around?
In Boulder, where every resident automatically receives access to recycling and composting services, more than half of the city’s waste is diverted from landfills. But in many Colorado cities and towns, residents who want to recycle must pay extra, or make a trip to recycling centers. The discrepancy between the relative ease of recycling in […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, News, Politics and Government
How bad are Coloradans at recycling? Chaffee County contractor closed its free sites over bad actors, slim profits
Angel of Shavano Recycling spent 15 years sifting through Chaffee County’s trash collecting its treasures — plastics, cardboard, paper, newspaper, tin and aluminum. But slim profits and bad behavior by customers led the owner, Mickey Barry, to close the gates on the four free community recycling sites. “In the recycling industry the drop sites have […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Why Colorado needs to take notes on recycling from abroad
With all of its 14ers, national parks and ecotourism, Colorado culture is often viewed as one of environmental stewardship that protects the natural wonders that characterize our state. However, our statewide recycling rate (the percentage of total waste generated that was recycled) was an unfortunate 17.2% in 2018 and a more depressing 15.9% in 2019. […]
Posted inEnvironment, News
What happens when Colorado stays home? Lots of residential trash, for one thing.
In the past five weeks, Colorado residents have stocked up on everything from food to toilet paper. They’ve shifted their domestic habits to order takeout in support of local restaurants. They’ve gone online to save their consumer muscles from atrophy. The stay-at-home restrictions handed down from Gov. Jared Polis in mid-March have certainly scaled back […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, News
Most used wind turbine blades end up in landfills. Colorado is part of the push to make the industry greener.
STERLING — Look north from a crest of the Logan County landfill and the wind turbines on the horizon appear like tiny pinwheels slicing bitter February gusts into a renewable and ever-larger share of Colorado’s electric power. Now gaze downward, into the chasm gradually filling with a combination of loose dirt, garbage and plastic bags […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, News
Coloradans produced a record 9.3 million tons of trash last year. Only 12 percent of it was recycled.
A new report released Wednesday from Colorado environmental organizations has bad news for Mother Earth: The state’s recycling rate hasn’t improved and the amount of trash produced by Coloradans hit a record of 9.3 million tons in 2017. “We set the wrong record,” said Danny Katz, State Director of the Colorado Public Interest Research Group […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, News
Colorado’s largest recycling company — finally — will be able to recycle Starbucks and other coffee cups
Alpine Waste & Recycling, Colorado’s largest recycling company, has figured out what to do with the perfect cup of coffee: Recycle it. Starting as early as Oct. 1, the company will begin picking up paper cups from coffee shops and household customers and transport them to a Wisconsin mill for proper recycling. The deal makes […]
Posted inColoradans, Environment, Growth, News
Coloradans generate 9.6 pounds of trash per person, per day. Where does it all go?
In seven years, the mounds of earth growing toward the sky west of Fort Collins will fit in with the landscape that surrounds them, foothills dotted with sagebrush and wild grasses that wave in hot summer wind. No trees are allowed to grow in these hills, though. That’s because their roots could penetrate a thick […]