Grade 5 Students from Lady Grey Elementary School took a field trip to the Golden Landfill and Bottle Depot this fall. Students learned how waste is processed from the marshalling area where mattresses, shingles, metal and drywall are collected while waiting to be recycled. We witnessed a garbage truck dumping a load and the compactor driving over the waste.
Cool things we learned about waste diversion in Golden:
- batteries and small appliances can be brought for recycling to the booth at the landfill
- hazardous wastes like paint, oil, pesticides and cleaning products are collected on Saturdays at the landfill
- electronics can be taken for recycling at the Bottle Depot
- a new category of flexible plastics are now accepted at the recycling depots at the landfill and Bottle Depot
Did you know that a head of lettuce in a plastic bag, would still look like a head of lettuce 50 years later after being dug out of the landfill? Organic material does not fully break down in the landfill. Organic materials in the landfill release methane (a harmful greenhouse gas) into the atmosphere. Thinking about starting a backyard compost bin? This is a great small step towards reducing your impact on climate change.
