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For those of you who have not read up on what’s going on with Recycling Centers, recycling centers, like our Latah Sanitation Inc (LSI), are struggling to sell or recycle back to recycling programs as the batches hold too high a percentage of contaminates, meaning un-recyclables like lightweight plastics that get flattened and missed in the paper. Then there are the wide array of plastics that clog up the machines or get mixed into the wrong bathes that contaminate an otherwise sellable batch. The end result– the bad batches go the Boardman Oregon Landfill and LSI loses money. What Moscowvites have not known for a long time is that our options have been either throw our plastics in the trash to go to a landfill or throw it in the recycle bin to contaminate a large batch of recyclables to then send all of it to… a landfill. Sound like a lose, lose?

Well, Moscow Charter School has come up with solution. They are taking advantage of the last resort we have in town and are supporting the collection of plastics that LSI can no longer take for collection at Safeway and WinCo. The school is accepting the following plastics: grocery bags, produce bags, bread bags, cereal liners, food storage bags, case overwrap, pellet bags, ice bags, slat bags, and packaging air pillow bags. They take all the plastics to either Safeway or WinCo who then send the plastics to Trex, a wood-alternative decking manufacturer who uses the plastics to make decks, benches, and other products.

So, when you feel irritated at throwing away your plastic bags or packaging, hang on to them. You can either bring them during school hours to Moscow Charter School or bring them directly to Safeway or WinCo. And who knows, you may be enjoying BBQ on your friends’ new deck and maybe, just maybe, you’ll be standing on that transformed old Amazon package you received some time past, enjoying of a view that makes those extra trips beyond Moscow’s blue recycle bin worth it.