I didn’t expect trash to be this pretty.
Live Thrive’s Center for Hard to Recycle Materials (CHaRM) DeKalb is new, to be sure, and exceedingly well-organized. The staff is helpful and friendly as they go about their work.
Exploring, I was amazed at how many things can be recycled or reclaimed, and it made me realize just how limited our neighborhood recycling pickup is. Of course, city recycling programs are a difficult undertaking – it takes a lot of space and labor to sort through mixed recycling, and contamination with non-recyclables can cause a whole batch to be rejected.
At CHaRM there’s no such sloppiness.
What’s brought in is carefully checked and goes into clearly labeled compartments.
They take many items that probably would otherwise end up in a landfill: monitors,
window glass,
fire extinguishers,
mattresses and tires,
plastics of all types,
books and CDs,
styrofoam,
and of course bottles and cans.
Somehow, seeing them clustered together like that made me appreciate all the labor that went into their manufacture. Graphic designers, engineers, chemists, project managers and scores of other people all had to be involved to produce these beautiful objects that we buy, use, and toss.
The whole place made me feel hopeful with its bounty.
Apparently these good vibes also induced a bird to make a nest right smack in the middle of everything – including some bits of styrofoam:
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