It's one of those below zero days and too cold to go outside.  Put a pizza in the oven, make some soup, but definitely don't plan on stepping foot outside.  Ok, I did open one door and stuck my hand outside to confirm what the weather channel predicted....and they got it right.  So, I'll use this morning to write about something trash related that has been bugging me.  If you live or work in downtown Minneapolis, you notice all the new apartment buildings going up.  That's a lot of people moving into downtown and a lot of trash to pick up.  The City of Minneapolis only picks up trash for apartment buildings that are 4 units and smaller.  If you live in a single family home or smaller building the city picks up your trash, provides one sort recycling, and organic recycling.  One sort recycling...that means you don't even have to sort out glass, cans and paper into different containers.  Simple.  Plus there is an extra bin for organics.  That group of residents should all be getting an A+ on their recycling efforts.  They are given all the tools they need to be successful recyclers.  But wait, according to the latest addition of the Green Digest by Nate Gotlieb in the Journal, the news isn't all that positive.  A study that was done last May by HERC (Hennepin Energy Recovery Center) shows that many folks are not doing their part and at this rate we will not meet our state-imposed recycling goals by 2030.  In the study, the city dug through garbage from three different neighborhoods and weighed and measured and categorized all that trash. What a fun day that must have been.  Ok, read about it here if you care to find out the details.  http://www.journalmpls.com/news/green-digest/2016/12/hennepin-county-recycling-trash-study-organics-food-waste/
Now back to those of us who live in downtown apartments with more than 4 units.  That's a lot of folks and more apartment units are going up like crazy.  We rely on our apartment owners and managers to contract out with trash haulers and provide us with recycling. The hauler that my building uses does not provide organic recycling.  I know because I called them.  I think I should be offered that and I hope the city will remedy that soon.  If I wanted to walk to the nearest city organic recycling site it would be about 4 miles round trip and I'm just not going to do that.  But according to city ordinance (Article VI 225.780), all apartment building owners are required to provide their tenants with the opportunity to recycle.  I'm sure most apartments these days do that.   But there are also other measures that apartment owners are required to do:

1. Recycling containers conveniently located on the premises of each property
2. Adequate container volume for recycling collected by tenants of the property
3. Written recycling educational materials provided from the hauler to the tenants annually that includes the following information:

• Materials that can be recycled in the hauler’s recycling program
• How to prepare materials to meet recycling requirements
• How to properly dispose of hazardous waste including drop-off locations, hours of operation and contact information.

Now as far as my own building is concerned, the recycling container is not exactly convenient, but it is probably the only choice.  The volume of the container is adequate, but number three on the list is what is lacking.  I never received any information on recycling at move-in or on an annual basis thereafter.  This information is supposed to be provided by the trash hauler to be distributed to tenants. And it is education that gets folks to participate and buy into recycling.  Not everyone has a clear idea of what can be recycled and that information changes every year.  It would be interesting to see a study of my apartment building's trash and find out just how we do compared to the neighborhoods from the May HERC study.  I wonder if any of the other large apartment complexes downtown provide their tenants with recycling information?