Recycling and Composting, how's that work?

Have you ever heard of a place called Ramsey/Washington County Recycling & Energy Center? I learned about them last year and found out they offer tours so I booked a tour that I took in February. I was fascinated by the work done at this center. It opened in 1980 where these two Minnesota Counties joined forces to protect public health and the environment by reducing waste.

At the R&E center, as they call it, all trash produced by residents and businesses in these two counties is delivered to the R&E center. Upon arrival it is tipped onto a floor the size of a football field. Then it is placed on conveyor belts that carry the materials through a system that recovers recyclables from the waste stream and processes the remaining material into a fuel source needed in power plants to generate electricity. The process means they are keeping as much as possible out of landfills.

I picked up a flyer, with 2023 statistics (the most current information they had available) and learned:

• 398,791 tons of trash were processed

• 13,029 tons of metal was recovered for recycling

• Produced enough fuel to power 13,459 homes for a year

• Reduce C02 emissions by 99,500 metric tons (compared to emissions had the trash been landfilled) - equivalent to taking 22,142 cars off the road for a year

If you are interested in knowing more, or taking a tour yourself, you can find the information at https://recyclingandenergy.org/ There is even an option to do a virtual tour on their website, it is only pictures, so again, I recommend the real in person tour, just sayin'...

If you are someone who cares about the impact of what you use and the impact it has on our environment, I can tell you you will learn much and be surprised by much. Something that was really amazing for me was the technology they have to sort compostable food scrap bags out of the trash stream. They are robotic arms and they can identify the green compostable bags, pick them off a conveyor belt where they are eventually delivered to industrial compost facilities. It produces the same material as if you did the composting in your own backyard. It takes about 6 months to fully compost. It was also fun to go into the control room and see the giant wall of monitors where they can see everything that is being processed. We learned what should and should not go into your trash. For instance, did you know people have actually placed propane cylinders in their trash and it has caused to roof to blow off this facility? Who would be so stupid! They said it has only happened a couple times and you know when it does because the entire building will shake. That's crazy, just sayin'...

As you read in this newsletter, I am leading the way on the Miles for Meals fundraiser as I have committed to riding 3,000 miles between May 1 and October 31. The end date all hinges on how the weather is as we all know there could be nice days or it could snow. It is my hope that nothing will impact the joy of riding and hitting that mileage mark, just sayin'...

I am excited and I hope you will consider taking part in the Miles for Meals fundraiser. I am especially interested to see who will share that they too plan join in the fun and ride some miles. Who knows, I may even encounter you on the bike trail! If you do decide to ride, please send a picture from your ride to info@openhandsmidway.org include your name and where you rode and we will post the picture on our Facebook page.  

My plan is to have a weekly update which I share either on our website via a blog post or on our Facebook page and we will also have a donation thermometer to track dollar donations on the homepage of our website. I really am excited, how can I not be when it involves my bike, just sayin'...