Recyclers Paint Bayview YMCA

Recyclers Paint Bayview YMCA

(September 16, 2010)

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, This Saturday, Recology Sunset Scavenger and San Francisco's Environment Department (SF Environment) will spruce up the Bayview YMCA in a show of appreciation to the community for increasing their participation in the city's recycling and compost collection program. The event will take place from 8:30 to 11am on Saturday, September 18 at 1601 Lane Street.



Over a six month period from November, 2009 to June, 2010, Bayview residents doubled the amount of material going into the green composting bin, improving at a rate higher than anywhere else in the city. More than 700 households signed up for compost (green bin) collection, and 300 for the recycling (blue bin) program.

100-plus volunteers from Recology, SF Environment, and the YMCA Board are expected to participate in the beautification initiative, to which SF Environment donated $5,000. Improvements will include painting hallways, bathrooms, and the gymnasium, as well as repainting and repairing lockers. Sirron Norris, a San Francisco-based artist from Recology's innovative Artist-in-Residence Program, is slated to paint a large, colorful mural on the property. In an additional environmental twist, much of the paint the volunteers will be using is recycled paint from San Francisco's residential paint recycling program.



Last fall SF Environment and Recology led a grassroots campaign that involved meetings with community groups in the Bayview, door-to-door and telephone outreach to residents, and a poster contest with children at neighborhood elementary schools. Staff made over 5,000 phone calls and visited more than 11,000 households, answering questions about composting and recycling and encouraging proper use of the green and blue bins.



Staff of Environment Now, a workforce development program affiliated with Jobs Now and funded by federal stimulus dollars, led the effort.



New statistics show the city is diverting 77 percent of all discards from going to the landfill, up from the previous 72 percent. This recycling rate is the highest of any city in the United States.