Trash and towel - has this ever happened to you?

[Betty X]

I was just reading a thread that reminded me of something that happened on our last trip in January of this year. Housekeeping came to do a trash and towel while we were in the room, and I was shocked to see that the housekeeper took the bag of recycling that I gave her and emptied it into the trash bag. I couldn't believe that she was not going to recycle the pop bottles etc. she just threw them into the trash! This ever happen to anyone else?

No I did not mention it to anyone at DVC as I just remembered now. I thought what a waste as DVC probably pays to have its trash hauled away, whereas at least if something was recycled it would reduce the amount of trash and generate a refund. I am just guessing that pop bottles generate a refund in Florida as they do here in Canada.

 

[owensamo]

Actually, most states don't have a per-can/bottle refund in the US. Only a handful do. However, I do believe most states do give some sort of tax breaks to recyclers, and many cities have mandatory recycling that give fines if they find you have recyclables in the garbage.

As for the housekeeper, perhaps she didn't realize it was recycling - though if I remember correctly, there is a specifcly blue recycling bin in the rooms. Our last WDW trip (to VWL) we ended up emptying our own trash and dumped the recycling ourselves a couple of times - they have separate bins in the garbage room for glass, plastic and paper so I hope they don't just dump those in the trash as well. It's certainly something to send to Member Services or the resort manager in a query - they may want to know of the practice, and if for some reason that's normal behaviour (perhaps they sort later? Eww...), they can let you know and perhaps explain it.

Mur!

 

[r8ingbull]

I wouldn't worry to much about the recycling bins. Most items you place in a recycle bin go to landfills anyway. The main exception is aluminum cans (for litter purposes). Most plastics and papers can't be recycled without extreme charges. Recycling as done by most consumers is the biggest waste of time and money, it is really a feel good program developed by the federal government. The price of recycling hoeshold waste is almost always higher then to make new product and properly dispose of the waste. Check with your local government as to the high cost of recycling programs in your area, many cities and states are cutting recycling tremendously.
Almost all worth while recycling is done within the industries that great the waste (ie automobiles, copper wire, heavy metals, and more).

 

[DebbieB]

We have blue recycle bins under our desk at work for paper, in addition to the regular can. I always was diligent in separating my garbage. Then one night I stayed late and the cleaning guy came in and dumped both cans into the same dumpster!

 

[Cruelladeville]

In our community we have good recycling efforts, and most of it is reused, although it's certainly an even exchange at best. Plastics are used to make park benches, and the papers are shredded and used as bedding for animals, cattle mostly, on the local dairy farms. When it's dirty they use a front end loader to dump it out back in the fields, where it's tilled into the ground, and provides more moisture in sandy soil for the crops. It's far less expensive to use paper than it is to use straw, which used to be the bedding of choice. I can't say whether or not it decays, because this is a relatively new practice, but since it's "used" it certainly is good fertilizer.