Mark Van Hollebeke always knew he wanted more. On July 13, he got it when he championed food waste recycling at the McKee Condominiums in Old Bellevue where he is a resident.
The program, M.O.R.E., stands for Multi-family Organics Recycling and Education and is being offered by Allied Waste Services.
“We asked ourselves, ‘What can you give a city that has the highest residential recycling rates in the state?’” said Frey of Allied Waste. “The answer was, ‘M.O.R.E. recycling!”
For Van Hollebeck it made sense.
“Everyone is very conscious about what they’re doing with recycling; this is the next logical step. We can reduce our waste by composting,” Van Hollebeck said. “Once you’re aware of the problem, that problem requires some responsibility.”
Van Hollebeck, a member of Bellevue’s Parks and Community Services Board and a philosophy professor, has taught responsibility in his ethics classes at Pacific Lutheran University.
“We have all these resources in place, we should be using them,” he said. As he gold the residents gathered in the lobby of the McKee, “You don’t throw things ‘away.’ There is no ‘away,’ it all goes somewhere.” The residents agreed.
Lucille Friedman, a senior living at the McKee since it opened 16 years ago, has seen changes in recycling at the McKee over the years.
“People are better about recycling these days,” she said, clutching her new kitchen organics bin. “We are using more recycling containers than we used to and that’s a big deal.”
Friedman said that without the storage a single-family basement or garage offers, multifamily residents have to have a place to put things. And, if she can get rid of heavy organic items by recycling, then “it’s the right thing to do environmentally.”
More than 20 residents volunteered to start organics recycling and more sign-ups are expected to be turned in, according to Van Hollebeke. Allied Waste Services rewarded the first volunteers of the program with equipment, information and what it calls “commitment cards” which are used to help maintain an open dialogue about the program. The company expects feedback from the McKee to influence its next moves in multifamily organics recycling regionwide as well as at the national level.
Also at the kick-off was Bellevue City Council member Jennifer Robertson.
“Bellevue is forward thinking,” Robertson noted. “We are on the leading edge of so many things like electric vehicles and greening City Hall. We help support our citizens’ efforts towards sustainability.”
Robertson addressed the group’s concerns about potential obstacles to organics recycling, such as odors.
“With a family of five, cooking three meals a day, I often fill up more than one of these kitchen bins a day,” she said. “Get paper bags from the grocery, line them with paper so they don’t blow out when heavy or put a cookie sheet underneath the bag to support it.”
Robertson also said a little baking soda sprinkled over the top can help with potential odors.
“I’ve never encountered any odor problems with organics recycling,” she added.
Properties that are interested in the service will be given free consulting services by Allied Waste Services recycling representatives to help implement a customized food waste recycling program. The company plans to work closely with property owners and managers to locate the onsite champion and to provide the necessary education to the residents.
“We want to see the organics recycling grow,” said Jeff Borgida, General Manager of Allied Waste Services. “We are another step closer to creating a zero waste community right here in Bellevue.”
