Every month or so I drop off recycling at the Gimme 5 Whole Foods drop-off location. However, this time I took notice of all the different recycling bins that were available, as well as the state they each were in. First I found the Gimme 5 bin in a state of disarray, with a cork recycling bin next to it:
Interesting, cork is another item that can be recycled these days. After doing a little research, I found that this cork bin is supported by Cork ReHarvest, which seems to be as much of an educational program than one solely focused on recycling. The site was a little confusing, because it notes that cork can be harvested in a totally environmentally-friendly fashion while preserving the cork forests of the Mediterranean, and yet at the same time, they are supporting the recycling of cork. (One would think that recycling wouldn’t be a key focus for a group of cork-harvesters, since if cork were fully recycled, they could be out of business, no?)
From there, I also noticed cell phone recycling bins…
… book bins…
… and plastic bottle bins.
What was also interesting was a notice that batteries were no longer collected for recycling at this location. I didn’t know that Whole Foods ever *did* recycle batteries… but they don’t seem to do so anymore.
(I have a stack of batteries that need recycling, ones that I have saved for years and used before switching over to rechargeables. I’ll continue to hunt for battery recycling locations and post them here as soon as I find one.)
It seems like these bins are only being checked and administered to occasionally. Next time in Whole Foods I’m going to stop by the customer service area to see if they can give further details on how often the bins are checked, who is responsible for their care and upkeep, and how often the goods in each make it to the proper place.
