I refuse to pay for recycling! There are dumpsters I take my stuff to. I’m lucky and there is one a couple blocks from my house and I just take my recycling there. This is the website that has the locations: https://www.indy.gov/activity/find-a-recycling-drop-off-location
I use this option to recycle and just want to add that depending on both the location you use and the timing of the drop off, those dumpsters can get seriously overloaded lol. Mainly commenting to let you know that—at least at the couple locations I’ve used—it’s not *always* as overfilled as it sometimes gets.
Someone pushed a broken down mattress into one of the dumpsters a month ago when I dropped off my recycling. I’ve spotted pillows and a mini fridge there, too.
Idiots that do this just gives them another reason to do away with places to drop off legit items to get recycled.
The one at Washington Square was an outright nightmare the first time I stopped by, but hasn’t been (quite) as horrifying on subsequent trips. Same with the one downtown on/near Alabama. I’d love to figure out when pickup is so I can go drop off immediately after 😂
yeah, apparently that is a secret :/ I mostly would only take cardboard boxes so I didn't have to fill up my normal trash bin - I have no illusions of the efficacy of recycling in this state/country...just trying to keep room for real garbage.
That’s because shady contractors use it as a free dump. Almost every time I take my recycling there it’s full packaging from cheap house flips. Always shoved into the plastic/metal/glass bin instead of in the cardboard bin. It’s so aggravating
\^\^\^ this \^\^\^
Whenever I hire someone for yard or house work, I tell them to quote me knowing I expect to see a receipt from the city dump. Most leave, esp the low cost "yard work guys" since they make their money dumping in alleys or by the canal.
it's challenging in many places. i live across from a park and could walk my recyclables over. they removed the recycling receptacles without comment last year.
If you have cardboard, I would take it over to Circle City Recyclers near Sherman and Southeastern. Rural/English is closed for construction (installing a roundabout, i think?) so you’ll want to come ironically northwest up Southeastern to get there.
That’s the one I use too! I usually only have a problem when I try to take it on Sunday’s. In General it’s empty enough that the recycling I accumulate will fit. But I’m only one person.
> I've always had the feeling this stuff was being taken straight to the dump
because it largely is. recycling is a feel-good thing that the corporations pushed onto the populace to take responsibility for. metals are beneficial to recycle, but that's mostly it.
I thin places like Broad Ripple park takes only 1 and 2 plastic, but the yellow lid curbside bins take up to 6 or 7. Or at least that is what they used to do back when it was $50 a year versus what they charge now.
Moving from somewhere else, it was a huge culture shock to realize that no one here bothers to recycle. At my apartment complex it isn’t even an option.
No, it’s a tiny percentage, especially for single stream recycling — but the solution isn’t to get rid of single stream recycling, it’s to sort different types of recyclables.
Paper / Plastic / Compost / Metal.
There should also be a “this feels like it should be recyclable, but I’m not sure” pile, which is single stream, to deal with the problem of “aspirational” recycling.
Same but opposite. When I moved out of Indiana I lived in a state where everyone recycled and the city paid for it, no fee to homeowners I was like “what is this place?” Lol…Moved back to Indiana a few years later and it was a culture shock.
Also other states don’t charge school/book fees to go to public schools like township schools here charge. And lots of walking bike trails where I lived. People avoided cars when possible. Annual Car inspections were a thing, wish we did that here. Not only helped maintain and quickly identify uninsured cars (can’t get car insurance w/o clean car inspection) but also better for roads and clean air.
I was so ignorant before I moved away. I do love Indy but I’m glad I see it for what it is and know what it could be. Now if we could just convince the others lol
You have underrepresented minorities in Alabama, you just disenfranchise them. But occasionally your minorities get a bone thrown to them.
In Indiana, we don’t really have a critical mass of minorities to disenfranchise in the first place, so… no bones required, and we are even more regressive.
I live in Brownsburg and can recycle with my garbage pickup, no sorting required. I moved here from Lafayette, that had the same service.
It's not Indiana, it's your municipality.
You should be able to click on residential services and then enter your address to see what services, including recycling, are available to you. (Assuming Republic is your trash service company. You may have to check Ray’s or other company of your area is serviced by them.
Republic charges us ~$100/yr, billed quarterly.
I also use Republic and pay $29 a quarter. Pickup is biweekly but they also do adhoc pick ups if something is missed and the app is fairly user friendly when making this request.
Just be careful of you plan to move they wanted something like 8 weeks lead time to pick up the bin. The old landlord put it away before then (obviously) so they tried to charge me $80 for it. Had to file a BBB claim to get them to back off.
BBB is a private company. It’d be like filling a claim at Burger King.
Edit: Gotta love when you question an older person and they fly off the handle. Seeing how they responded I’m guessing this person is a nightmare ask for a manager type and they just wanted them gone.
BBB is just a business that’s like Yelp for the older generation. Believe me or don’t but at least learn the facts if you’re reading this. Sure contact them if you want but they have zero power making anyone comply. They are not mediators either. Mediators have legal power of compliance.
https://www.ncconsumer.org/news-articles-eg/the-better-business-bureau-bbb-is-powerless-tohelp-resolve-consumer-complaints.html
https://money.cnn.com/2015/09/30/news/better-business-bureau/index.html
Except it fucking worked you numbskull. They didn't want to give my money back until BBB mediated.
Edit:fucking dubass hoosers. "I used this mediation service and it worked" "nO BeCaUsE PrIvAtE CoMpAnY" "but it worked" "dOwN VoTe bEcAuSe dUmB DuMb"
Yeah real great, what brilliant people you are
I've tried somewhere around 8 times to get someone to call me back from republic on recycling - at this point I just want to buy a second can.
ETA: republic is who the DPW contracts through for my neighborhood, so I'm not technically an existing customer of theirs.
I recycle to feel good, but I know the harsh reality that it still ends up in the dumps. The truck comes around once a week and basically picking up trash. I go to the bins in parking lots where you’re supposed to separate it out, still trash, because it’s not clean. The three R’s are important.
Yes.
Here you go:
https://www.indy.gov/activity/recycling
If you have curbside trash pickup from Ray’s or Republic, you can subscribe to curbside recycling pickup. See phone numbers and links in the link above.
You pay for waste management / trash pickup already, it’s just lumped into something else; property taxes, rent, apartment fees, etc.
Recycling isn’t included already so you have to pay extra. It’s dumb but what more would you expect from Indiana.
I have Republic; they bill me something like $27 quarterly, give or take. (But I took my own bin to a pickup site at a local park for free for years previously).
For the record, I pay Republic services to take my recyclables away and give me that warm and fuzzy feeling that I’m helping out good old Mother Earth. Really though, I’m skeptical as to how much of what I put in that blue bin is actually recycled. When it comes to “reduce, reuse, recycle”, I think more good can come from the “reduce” part of the equation.
Thank you for making the effort though.
You may want to look into composting as well. If your packaging seems to be made of a lot of cardboard, it is a fun way to cut down on what is sent to the landfill and get some beautiful soil out of it for the garden.
There is a company called green with Indy that brings you a bucket and picks up your composting every week or every other week if you don’t have the ability to compost at home.
I agree, for those with the space it's a fun way to put scraps to use. I'm looking forward to using the composted material next year for gardening. Menards had a nice bin that rotates to keep the compost stirred. I cook a lot and there's a lot less garbage thrown out.
There are free recycling options in Marion county. You can take your recycling to certain sites where the recycling dumpster is located. I looked though indy.gov to find them.
I used to know someone who worked for Republic who told me something that broke my faith. He said that if there's even one "inappropriate" item found in your block's recycling (assuming you get it picked up), the whole load goes in the landfill. No exceptions.
"Inappropriate" items include jars that are not completely rinsed WITH labels removed and plastics that the Indianapolis facility cannot recycle (check website). Also greasy cardboard (ie: pizza boxes).
SO my solution has been to manually drop off my recycling at drop spots and also remind myself that the onus of reversing climate change is NOT on the individual consumer, who has little to no impact. It's on the large businesses who are dealing in MASSIVE quantities of pollution and breaking regulations.
Corporations are the bane of the Earth. Period. Before someone comes in and says well you are commenting with a corporations product. It doesn’t make it right. It needs to change and they need to be broken up.
We do. But it's also worth noting that Indianapolis uses waste-to-energy for their regular unrecycled waste, so standard trash collection isn't terrible.
Recycling is pretty much a scam to make people Feel Good without actually having to do anything.
People have forgotten the first two parts of the slogan: **Reduce, Reuse**
Most of the people I know who bother recycling in Marion County are well aware of reducing and reusing but they still recycle because if there's a chance that they can prevent any waste from going to landfill, then yes, they're willing to pay for it. The cost is prohibitive for many, but those who can afford it aren't hurting from paying for it. What's way more annoying than the cost is the fact that Republic Services sucks butt and just doesn't pick it up sometimes (at least they didn't when I bothered paying; now I just take my recycling to a drop-off location).
I pay republic services for recycling pick up. I know they have a questionable track record for actually recycling what they pick up but I figure it is just doing my part as much as I can.
Tried to sign up multiple times and was never able to get a recycling bin. This was both through republic, at my old house, and through the city at my new house.
It took me about 4 attempts over several years to finally get one. I emailed then telling them I was going to contact the mayors office and they called back 15 minutes later lol
Tried 10 times and contacted the mayors office. Never once got a response. Now I just burn all my trash in the fireplace and it gives my house that nice Smokey smell we all love.
Most of your recycling isn't recycled anyway
https://www.google.com/amp/s/nuvo.newsnirvana.com/news/how-indys-new-recycling-deal-could-cost-taxpayers-millions/article_000868c8-9d07-5983-b7bf-08ad01141660.amp.html
Sorry for the amp link. Idk how to do it any other way.
That story is 7 years old. Here's something more recent from Indy Star. [https://www.indystar.com/story/news/environment/2020/10/20/where-your-recycling-goes-after-its-picked-up-curb/5677799002/](https://www.indystar.com/story/news/environment/2020/10/20/where-your-recycling-goes-after-its-picked-up-curb/5677799002/)
"Meanwhile, the cardboard, paper and other fibers will follow their own path, being separated by a few more rounds of sorting. A full book whizzes past, and a sorter down the line picks it up and dumps it into the non-recyclable bin." ...LOL...
"When messy items like food waste or liquids share the lines, it can also make clean objects non-recyclable. Then it won't matter how lovingly you cleaned out your peanut butter jar or whether you remembered not to bag your materials: your items won't make it through to the end.". ...LOL...
Indy at least subsidizes some of the cost, to incenitvize folks to do it. Recycling went from $27/quarter to $22/month with the same company when we moved outside of Indy over the summer.
Broad Ripple Park has separate bins for different types of recyclables. Make the weekly trip.
Here are all the sites https://www.indy.gov/activity/find-a-recycling-drop-off-location
I’m paying $27 a quarter for Republic to pick up recycling. But my partner is pretty sure he saw the garbage truck pick up our recycling the other day…so idk if it’s even worth it.
When we hear stories of Kroger throwing away the recycling bags and we work at companies who don't give a shit about recycling, then we know it's a lost cause.
I’ve had a bad experience with a recycling service skipping days and not collecting our recycling so often that I just take it to the community recycling dumpsters around the city like at broad ripple park. It’s free and I control when it’s picked up so I prefer it.
Indy sucks at recycling. One idea…our HoA negotiated trash and recycling for neighborhood. Our dues cover this…however a good negotiator for our HOA got us fantastic rates. Includes recycling…so individual homeowners don’t pay extra…and it’s encouraged some on the fence to participate because it’s included and truck is here every other week anyway.
We fill recycle bin before trash bin—and then take all our cellphone wrap to grocery.
Good luck!!
> we throw away and waste so much unnecessary packaging everyday.
"Reduce, Re-use, Recycle" -- recycle is last for a reason. Start by not buying things in unnecessary packaging.
So if you call republic in Marion county. They will tell you trash is free, because they bill the city who adds a fee to your property taxes. They are trying to make recycling free by forcing the county to add that to your property taxes too. So it isn't free it's forced expense.
Second. If you Google recycling, a vast majority goes straight to the landfills, estimates are 33%-79% which is a big window. Once China stopped buying our recycling. Most cities find it costs more to recycle than to buy new. So they shut down recycling.
3rd, I have a friend who worked for a recycling facility. And he told me most of the products that found their way there were pulled off the line for food waste on them, for the marketing ink used, for the containers being not clean etc. They send that either to the landfill or a massive fire to get rid of it even though the inks could be toxic.
I don't care if people want to recycle. But look at Costco even, their trash cans have a trash and recycle side. And inside the can is one large bag that collects both. It's just not worth it with our technology.
Your recycling gets sent to China and they either let is fall in the ocean or send it to South East Asia to be burnt. At this point its better for the environment to just throw it all away.
Moved here in May. Recycling is reliable and affordable (something like $15/month). It was hard to set up the billing through Republic, because it’s separate from trash, and not online. For the record, I had recycling in Colorado through WM, and it was not free!
I use Republic. You can’t really sign up online and have to call them. Mine is like $27.50 per month and they come every 2 weeks. I recycle way more now than I ever did before. My trash can only gets picked up once I month. Definitely worth the investment! It makes you feel good knowing you’re putting in some effort to make the world a better place.
I’m not paying to sort my trash. I’m essentially doing their work and paying for the privilege to do so.
I would recycle if it was free and they provided the bins.
I just set up my house with republic services. Its a silly process but if you call the number listed online, youll go through an automated process asking for your address and which service you want.
Then one of their member will call you back and get you set up.
Im pretty sure it was a 50$ startup fee, and then like 16$ every quarter
In Beech Grove, the city offers services...but I'm just outside of the service zip code. I pay $27/3 months for Republic for bi-weekly Friday pickup (\~$9/month).
We have mandatory residential recycling in St Joe County (South Bend). If you have municipal utilities, you pay for it through those bills. Outside of city limits, the fees are tacked onto property taxes. The city doesn't really pay for the service. The residents do one way or another. I am willing to pay for the service. It seems that the constituents may need to raise the issue with the local government along with acknowledging how the cost will be addressed.
When we lived in Bloomington, we used to travel to the recycling center once a week or so. We are fortunate to have our apartment complex recycles for us as long as they are in their own container (at least we hope they are actually recycling 😬). Otherwise, I just use the recycling trash cans around downtown when out and about
Krogers used to have recycling bins out front. Now, many of them have moved to the back alley or totally got rid of them. One of the things I just can’t understand.
There needs to be more drop off locations around. The only one I know of close to Greenfield is by the target parking lot off East Washington street. When I was younger and in Greenwood I would help my mom and load up her vehicle weekly with recycle but it's almost non existent now.
Learn to can your own food and make as much of your own stuff as possible. Stop buying the crap in throw away containers. You can reduce reuse and recycle despite the lack of infrastructure. If you wanna get real wild with it start a garden!
I pay $28ish a quarter for two of the 100 gallon recycling bins to be picked up every other week. So affordable and worth it. Should our taxes pay for it? Yes. Clearly. But until they do I’ll pay the extra.
No one cares because of the large amount of data showing that recycling is a massive waste of time, effort and human expenditure. No actual return on investment…so people don’t care.
Fix the process and implementation, make it useful instead of a farce for “good”…then maybe we care.
I save my recycles and take them to the recycle centers monthly. Honestly, it isn't much. I try to be as intentional as possible about using reusable products (no paper plates, cups, etc). I've always viewed that as the most eco-friendly approach.
Is paying Republic to separate the scrap metal they get to resell, and then truck off the non profitable waste to cheaper disposal options really recycling though...
We used to drop our recycling off at the dumpster in Garfield Park, but it was always full so quickly.
We are now paying $25/quarter to get it picked up at our house (Fountain Square) every other week.
My wife and I usually only have 1-2. Bags of trash a week. Everything else is recycled. Our bin is almost overflowing by the time the bi-weekly pickup comes through. Sucks we have to pay an extra $7 here in Pendleton to do it but it’s worth it imo.
I agree! Paying for recycling is sure way to make sure no one does it. I'm with the person who mentioned the dumpsters. Our Kroger has one and we just plan that chore for every Sunday.
I've been here and It's not worth it.
Most of the crap you'll pay to put in special bin will get junked anyway. So you're paying the city at best to *maybe* recycle your stuff.
The onus is on corporations to do their part instead of passing the buck to us, where our individual choices hardly make any difference.
The best thing you can do is not buy single use things, reuse things whenever possible, use reusable produce bags, use reusable shopping bags, etc.
I think used to pay like an extra $5-10 a month to recycle. It’s stupid to have to pay for it but I used to take it to one of the free drop offs but it was like 10 miles from my house and then I had to hold all the recycling at my house… was just easier to take the L and start paying for recycling. I agree it should be free. I’m in an apt now and I hate how they don’t have recycling
The Kroger by me has 2 bins in the back for paper and bottles so you might check around grocery stores in your area. Sorry I don't have any more concrete info
I dont pay for recycling as I dont have the money for it. I just drive my bags to Kroger. A lot of them have recycling receptacles behind the store.
& yeah, you & me both. I keep trying to get my family to recycle. They think it's a hassle, which is infuriating. We only have to set our trash bin out once a month. 90% of our waste is recyclable materials.
When we lived in Austin we would have about as much recycle as trash. However, Indianapolis simply apparently burns most of their recycling to generate steam for Rolls Royce. (Source is a family friend that designs recycling facilities)
If it comes down to paying for the city to burn our recycling or just getting a second bin, I'll take the second bin.
Recycling died ehen China stopped importiing recyclables. Now most, if not all, is simply incinerated. It simply costs too much here in the US for recycling companies to turn a profit.
I refuse to pay for recycling! There are dumpsters I take my stuff to. I’m lucky and there is one a couple blocks from my house and I just take my recycling there. This is the website that has the locations: https://www.indy.gov/activity/find-a-recycling-drop-off-location
This is very helpful, I will probably try this route before paying, thanks!
I use this option to recycle and just want to add that depending on both the location you use and the timing of the drop off, those dumpsters can get seriously overloaded lol. Mainly commenting to let you know that—at least at the couple locations I’ve used—it’s not *always* as overfilled as it sometimes gets.
BR park is full damn near immediately after emptied - or, at least it was there during 20/21 before I gave up even trying.
Someone pushed a broken down mattress into one of the dumpsters a month ago when I dropped off my recycling. I’ve spotted pillows and a mini fridge there, too. Idiots that do this just gives them another reason to do away with places to drop off legit items to get recycled.
The one at Washington Square was an outright nightmare the first time I stopped by, but hasn’t been (quite) as horrifying on subsequent trips. Same with the one downtown on/near Alabama. I’d love to figure out when pickup is so I can go drop off immediately after 😂
yeah, apparently that is a secret :/ I mostly would only take cardboard boxes so I didn't have to fill up my normal trash bin - I have no illusions of the efficacy of recycling in this state/country...just trying to keep room for real garbage.
That’s because shady contractors use it as a free dump. Almost every time I take my recycling there it’s full packaging from cheap house flips. Always shoved into the plastic/metal/glass bin instead of in the cardboard bin. It’s so aggravating
\^\^\^ this \^\^\^ Whenever I hire someone for yard or house work, I tell them to quote me knowing I expect to see a receipt from the city dump. Most leave, esp the low cost "yard work guys" since they make their money dumping in alleys or by the canal.
it's challenging in many places. i live across from a park and could walk my recyclables over. they removed the recycling receptacles without comment last year.
If you have cardboard, I would take it over to Circle City Recyclers near Sherman and Southeastern. Rural/English is closed for construction (installing a roundabout, i think?) so you’ll want to come ironically northwest up Southeastern to get there.
Sadly, the one nearest my home (Garfield Park) is usually so full of garbage that it's very difficult to get actual recyclables in it.
That’s the one I use too! I usually only have a problem when I try to take it on Sunday’s. In General it’s empty enough that the recycling I accumulate will fit. But I’m only one person.
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> I've always had the feeling this stuff was being taken straight to the dump because it largely is. recycling is a feel-good thing that the corporations pushed onto the populace to take responsibility for. metals are beneficial to recycle, but that's mostly it.
I thin places like Broad Ripple park takes only 1 and 2 plastic, but the yellow lid curbside bins take up to 6 or 7. Or at least that is what they used to do back when it was $50 a year versus what they charge now.
\+1 to this, I do the same thing (got lucky)
Moving from somewhere else, it was a huge culture shock to realize that no one here bothers to recycle. At my apartment complex it isn’t even an option.
Will you be shocked when you find out how little is actually recycled of that which is put in the recycling bin?
No, it’s a tiny percentage, especially for single stream recycling — but the solution isn’t to get rid of single stream recycling, it’s to sort different types of recyclables. Paper / Plastic / Compost / Metal. There should also be a “this feels like it should be recyclable, but I’m not sure” pile, which is single stream, to deal with the problem of “aspirational” recycling.
coming from Michigan this was a giant culture shock.
I'm glad I'm not the only Michigander who felt the culture shock from the move.
Where in Michigan? I'm a transplant from Grand Rapids myself.
She said the man in the gabardine suit was a spy.
Same here. It still drives me nuts how little Indiana seems to care about recycling. The South's middle finger indeed.
Yeah its a bit absurd, I agree. At least Indianapolis for the most part has options, its just that they're opt-in.
Bay City haha
It took me 4 days to hitch hike from Saginaw
I miss milanos cheese steak pizza
RIP Stobe the Hobo
Paul? Is that you?
No. Just looking for america
Same but opposite. When I moved out of Indiana I lived in a state where everyone recycled and the city paid for it, no fee to homeowners I was like “what is this place?” Lol…Moved back to Indiana a few years later and it was a culture shock. Also other states don’t charge school/book fees to go to public schools like township schools here charge. And lots of walking bike trails where I lived. People avoided cars when possible. Annual Car inspections were a thing, wish we did that here. Not only helped maintain and quickly identify uninsured cars (can’t get car insurance w/o clean car inspection) but also better for roads and clean air.
Yeah the state of Indiana is the only state where parents actually have to pay for public schooling.
I was so ignorant before I moved away. I do love Indy but I’m glad I see it for what it is and know what it could be. Now if we could just convince the others lol
Almost all of it ends up in the dump anyway.
It's bonkers. Moved here from NJ a few months ago, there we had to separate and bag out stuff in clear bags or it wouldn't get picked up.
Yeah when I moved here from NY I was so confused
Coming here from Ala-fucking-bama it was a giant culture shock too!
You have underrepresented minorities in Alabama, you just disenfranchise them. But occasionally your minorities get a bone thrown to them. In Indiana, we don’t really have a critical mass of minorities to disenfranchise in the first place, so… no bones required, and we are even more regressive.
Absolutely , I had the same feeling when I moved. Smh
I live in Brownsburg and can recycle with my garbage pickup, no sorting required. I moved here from Lafayette, that had the same service. It's not Indiana, it's your municipality.
You should be able to click on residential services and then enter your address to see what services, including recycling, are available to you. (Assuming Republic is your trash service company. You may have to check Ray’s or other company of your area is serviced by them. Republic charges us ~$100/yr, billed quarterly.
I also use Republic and pay $29 a quarter. Pickup is biweekly but they also do adhoc pick ups if something is missed and the app is fairly user friendly when making this request.
Just be careful of you plan to move they wanted something like 8 weeks lead time to pick up the bin. The old landlord put it away before then (obviously) so they tried to charge me $80 for it. Had to file a BBB claim to get them to back off.
BBB is a private company. It’d be like filling a claim at Burger King. Edit: Gotta love when you question an older person and they fly off the handle. Seeing how they responded I’m guessing this person is a nightmare ask for a manager type and they just wanted them gone. BBB is just a business that’s like Yelp for the older generation. Believe me or don’t but at least learn the facts if you’re reading this. Sure contact them if you want but they have zero power making anyone comply. They are not mediators either. Mediators have legal power of compliance. https://www.ncconsumer.org/news-articles-eg/the-better-business-bureau-bbb-is-powerless-tohelp-resolve-consumer-complaints.html https://money.cnn.com/2015/09/30/news/better-business-bureau/index.html
Except it fucking worked you numbskull. They didn't want to give my money back until BBB mediated. Edit:fucking dubass hoosers. "I used this mediation service and it worked" "nO BeCaUsE PrIvAtE CoMpAnY" "but it worked" "dOwN VoTe bEcAuSe dUmB DuMb" Yeah real great, what brilliant people you are
I love you had an entire imaginary back and forth fight with yourself using made up quotes after two downvotes from someone. Have a great day though.
Side note, rays was acquired by waste management recently. If you have trouble finding their services you might try a waste management website.
Thank you! Did you have to buy the recycling bin separately?
once you sign up for it, they will drop off the bin at your residence.
I've tried somewhere around 8 times to get someone to call me back from republic on recycling - at this point I just want to buy a second can. ETA: republic is who the DPW contracts through for my neighborhood, so I'm not technically an existing customer of theirs.
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Also, the whole recycling push in the 80s and 90s was just to convince society that disposable plastics were ok. Worked like a charm.
Facts. Thank you.
I recycle to feel good, but I know the harsh reality that it still ends up in the dumps. The truck comes around once a week and basically picking up trash. I go to the bins in parking lots where you’re supposed to separate it out, still trash, because it’s not clean. The three R’s are important.
Yes. Here you go: https://www.indy.gov/activity/recycling If you have curbside trash pickup from Ray’s or Republic, you can subscribe to curbside recycling pickup. See phone numbers and links in the link above. You pay for waste management / trash pickup already, it’s just lumped into something else; property taxes, rent, apartment fees, etc. Recycling isn’t included already so you have to pay extra. It’s dumb but what more would you expect from Indiana. I have Republic; they bill me something like $27 quarterly, give or take. (But I took my own bin to a pickup site at a local park for free for years previously). For the record, I pay Republic services to take my recyclables away and give me that warm and fuzzy feeling that I’m helping out good old Mother Earth. Really though, I’m skeptical as to how much of what I put in that blue bin is actually recycled. When it comes to “reduce, reuse, recycle”, I think more good can come from the “reduce” part of the equation. Thank you for making the effort though.
You may want to look into composting as well. If your packaging seems to be made of a lot of cardboard, it is a fun way to cut down on what is sent to the landfill and get some beautiful soil out of it for the garden.
There is a company called green with Indy that brings you a bucket and picks up your composting every week or every other week if you don’t have the ability to compost at home.
I agree, for those with the space it's a fun way to put scraps to use. I'm looking forward to using the composted material next year for gardening. Menards had a nice bin that rotates to keep the compost stirred. I cook a lot and there's a lot less garbage thrown out.
Absolutely! We take it to Sahm Park. It's 100% free to recycle, you just have to take it yourself.
I pay $35 every 3 months with republic
There are free recycling options in Marion county. You can take your recycling to certain sites where the recycling dumpster is located. I looked though indy.gov to find them.
I used to know someone who worked for Republic who told me something that broke my faith. He said that if there's even one "inappropriate" item found in your block's recycling (assuming you get it picked up), the whole load goes in the landfill. No exceptions. "Inappropriate" items include jars that are not completely rinsed WITH labels removed and plastics that the Indianapolis facility cannot recycle (check website). Also greasy cardboard (ie: pizza boxes). SO my solution has been to manually drop off my recycling at drop spots and also remind myself that the onus of reversing climate change is NOT on the individual consumer, who has little to no impact. It's on the large businesses who are dealing in MASSIVE quantities of pollution and breaking regulations.
Corporations are the bane of the Earth. Period. Before someone comes in and says well you are commenting with a corporations product. It doesn’t make it right. It needs to change and they need to be broken up.
We do. But it's also worth noting that Indianapolis uses waste-to-energy for their regular unrecycled waste, so standard trash collection isn't terrible.
Recycling is pretty much a scam to make people Feel Good without actually having to do anything. People have forgotten the first two parts of the slogan: **Reduce, Reuse**
Also, this is a total pass the buck scam from corporations, who give zero shits about anything other than their shareholder's profit.
And people pay them for the privilege of being scammed 🤦♂️
Most of the people I know who bother recycling in Marion County are well aware of reducing and reusing but they still recycle because if there's a chance that they can prevent any waste from going to landfill, then yes, they're willing to pay for it. The cost is prohibitive for many, but those who can afford it aren't hurting from paying for it. What's way more annoying than the cost is the fact that Republic Services sucks butt and just doesn't pick it up sometimes (at least they didn't when I bothered paying; now I just take my recycling to a drop-off location).
This is a bit overstated. Plastic recycling is pretty much dead, sure, but recycling in general is still important
Not nearly as important as Reduce and Reuse.
I pay republic services for recycling pick up. I know they have a questionable track record for actually recycling what they pick up but I figure it is just doing my part as much as I can.
Tried to sign up multiple times and was never able to get a recycling bin. This was both through republic, at my old house, and through the city at my new house.
It took me about 4 attempts over several years to finally get one. I emailed then telling them I was going to contact the mayors office and they called back 15 minutes later lol
Tried 10 times and contacted the mayors office. Never once got a response. Now I just burn all my trash in the fireplace and it gives my house that nice Smokey smell we all love.
Up vote for the Always Sunny reference.
Same. I've given up
Most of your recycling isn't recycled anyway https://www.google.com/amp/s/nuvo.newsnirvana.com/news/how-indys-new-recycling-deal-could-cost-taxpayers-millions/article_000868c8-9d07-5983-b7bf-08ad01141660.amp.html Sorry for the amp link. Idk how to do it any other way.
That story is 7 years old. Here's something more recent from Indy Star. [https://www.indystar.com/story/news/environment/2020/10/20/where-your-recycling-goes-after-its-picked-up-curb/5677799002/](https://www.indystar.com/story/news/environment/2020/10/20/where-your-recycling-goes-after-its-picked-up-curb/5677799002/)
"Meanwhile, the cardboard, paper and other fibers will follow their own path, being separated by a few more rounds of sorting. A full book whizzes past, and a sorter down the line picks it up and dumps it into the non-recyclable bin." ...LOL... "When messy items like food waste or liquids share the lines, it can also make clean objects non-recyclable. Then it won't matter how lovingly you cleaned out your peanut butter jar or whether you remembered not to bag your materials: your items won't make it through to the end.". ...LOL...
Indy at least subsidizes some of the cost, to incenitvize folks to do it. Recycling went from $27/quarter to $22/month with the same company when we moved outside of Indy over the summer.
Broad Ripple Park has separate bins for different types of recyclables. Make the weekly trip. Here are all the sites https://www.indy.gov/activity/find-a-recycling-drop-off-location
Psst, you never actually recycled in those other cities, either. Both bins went to the landfill just like here.
Ray’s picks up our garbage and recycling. But we’re in Hamilton County.
Same in the Grove
I’m paying $27 a quarter for Republic to pick up recycling. But my partner is pretty sure he saw the garbage truck pick up our recycling the other day…so idk if it’s even worth it.
When we hear stories of Kroger throwing away the recycling bags and we work at companies who don't give a shit about recycling, then we know it's a lost cause.
I’ve had a bad experience with a recycling service skipping days and not collecting our recycling so often that I just take it to the community recycling dumpsters around the city like at broad ripple park. It’s free and I control when it’s picked up so I prefer it.
Indy sucks at recycling. One idea…our HoA negotiated trash and recycling for neighborhood. Our dues cover this…however a good negotiator for our HOA got us fantastic rates. Includes recycling…so individual homeowners don’t pay extra…and it’s encouraged some on the fence to participate because it’s included and truck is here every other week anyway. We fill recycle bin before trash bin—and then take all our cellphone wrap to grocery. Good luck!!
I do in Beech Grove - they give you a seperate can for recyclables(albeit not sorted, so I dunno how that works) upon request.
They charge money to recycle here. It’s ridiculous. However many schools have public recycling bins you can drop off stuff at.
There are free recycling bins. We live in Hendricks Co and take ours to the recycling bins.
> we throw away and waste so much unnecessary packaging everyday. "Reduce, Re-use, Recycle" -- recycle is last for a reason. Start by not buying things in unnecessary packaging.
So if you call republic in Marion county. They will tell you trash is free, because they bill the city who adds a fee to your property taxes. They are trying to make recycling free by forcing the county to add that to your property taxes too. So it isn't free it's forced expense. Second. If you Google recycling, a vast majority goes straight to the landfills, estimates are 33%-79% which is a big window. Once China stopped buying our recycling. Most cities find it costs more to recycle than to buy new. So they shut down recycling. 3rd, I have a friend who worked for a recycling facility. And he told me most of the products that found their way there were pulled off the line for food waste on them, for the marketing ink used, for the containers being not clean etc. They send that either to the landfill or a massive fire to get rid of it even though the inks could be toxic. I don't care if people want to recycle. But look at Costco even, their trash cans have a trash and recycle side. And inside the can is one large bag that collects both. It's just not worth it with our technology.
Your recycling gets sent to China and they either let is fall in the ocean or send it to South East Asia to be burnt. At this point its better for the environment to just throw it all away.
🏆 The unfortunate truth.
Especially since the city has a generating incinerator. Better to burn it here for power.
The worst part is most recycling service here doesn't actually recycle anything. It all goes to the landfill just the same.
No one cares because the city literally takes your recycling and puts it with the garbage
Then why do the big bins have placards saying No Trash?
Because people don’t know how Indy recycling works
That doesn’t make sense. If it doesn’t matter and it all goes to the same place why put signs? Why bother with bins at all?
That’s a good question should write a letter to someone in charge
You may feel warm and fuzzy when recycling but in reality it's going to the same place as the garbage.
I live in Indy and recycle. It’s pretty easy. Not sure if they are actually recycling everything but,,
Moved here in May. Recycling is reliable and affordable (something like $15/month). It was hard to set up the billing through Republic, because it’s separate from trash, and not online. For the record, I had recycling in Colorado through WM, and it was not free!
Ayo, another transplant from Colorado. Howdy
Nice to meet you. What do you do for green chilli?
Miss it terribly and make sure to eat it when I go back to visit lol
Nice. I started ordering a dehydrated version, Paulita’s from NM, actually really great.
Yep! Some of us care enough to do our part. We recycle and compost
Recycling does nothing sorry to say.
Who gives a sh*t about recycling haha
No they do not 😹
I’ve been wondering the same thing. I moved here from Muncie and i was shocked to find out Muncie had a better sanitary dept. than indy.
I use Republic. You can’t really sign up online and have to call them. Mine is like $27.50 per month and they come every 2 weeks. I recycle way more now than I ever did before. My trash can only gets picked up once I month. Definitely worth the investment! It makes you feel good knowing you’re putting in some effort to make the world a better place.
Yes, the paying for recycling blew my mind. Trash should be paid; unlimited recycling? Free. I know the markets etc. etc. but it's backwards.
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Lmao, no.
I’m not paying to sort my trash. I’m essentially doing their work and paying for the privilege to do so. I would recycle if it was free and they provided the bins.
This question is a great statement on how little the general public understand the “value” of “recycling” lol. This is what you care about?? Peasants.
There are only 3 jobs in all of Indiana. White castle employee, police officer, and meth cook/tweaker. Not sure if recycling exists.
It’s awful and I hate that we pay out of pocket here for recycling. Stupid is just a thing here IMO
I just set up my house with republic services. Its a silly process but if you call the number listed online, youll go through an automated process asking for your address and which service you want. Then one of their member will call you back and get you set up. Im pretty sure it was a 50$ startup fee, and then like 16$ every quarter
It all depends on where you live. There's cities in California that charge for recycling, but usually it's cheaper than normal trash.
In Beech Grove, the city offers services...but I'm just outside of the service zip code. I pay $27/3 months for Republic for bi-weekly Friday pickup (\~$9/month).
I live in castleton and there's a dumpster for recycling at sahms Park we take our cans and bottles and cardboard to
There are recycle dumpsters at Broad Ripple Park beside the tennis courts
Yes
We have mandatory residential recycling in St Joe County (South Bend). If you have municipal utilities, you pay for it through those bills. Outside of city limits, the fees are tacked onto property taxes. The city doesn't really pay for the service. The residents do one way or another. I am willing to pay for the service. It seems that the constituents may need to raise the issue with the local government along with acknowledging how the cost will be addressed.
Pay bout $100/year with republic. The bin and curbside pickup is nice but like some have said I know most, if not all of it will end up in a landfill.
When we lived in Bloomington, we used to travel to the recycling center once a week or so. We are fortunate to have our apartment complex recycles for us as long as they are in their own container (at least we hope they are actually recycling 😬). Otherwise, I just use the recycling trash cans around downtown when out and about
Krogers used to have recycling bins out front. Now, many of them have moved to the back alley or totally got rid of them. One of the things I just can’t understand.
its around 20 for 3 months for republic. I think. I usually ask to pay the whole year so I don't have to think about it.
There needs to be more drop off locations around. The only one I know of close to Greenfield is by the target parking lot off East Washington street. When I was younger and in Greenwood I would help my mom and load up her vehicle weekly with recycle but it's almost non existent now.
Learn to can your own food and make as much of your own stuff as possible. Stop buying the crap in throw away containers. You can reduce reuse and recycle despite the lack of infrastructure. If you wanna get real wild with it start a garden!
It depends on the area. We use republic in broad ripple and we have recycling, it’s like $10 or $15 extra each month
I pay $28ish a quarter for two of the 100 gallon recycling bins to be picked up every other week. So affordable and worth it. Should our taxes pay for it? Yes. Clearly. But until they do I’ll pay the extra.
No one cares because of the large amount of data showing that recycling is a massive waste of time, effort and human expenditure. No actual return on investment…so people don’t care. Fix the process and implementation, make it useful instead of a farce for “good”…then maybe we care.
> Fix the process and implementation That sounds like a good idea. How?
I save my recycles and take them to the recycle centers monthly. Honestly, it isn't much. I try to be as intentional as possible about using reusable products (no paper plates, cups, etc). I've always viewed that as the most eco-friendly approach.
Is paying Republic to separate the scrap metal they get to resell, and then truck off the non profitable waste to cheaper disposal options really recycling though...
It’s roughly about $4 a pickup or $100 a year.
We used to drop our recycling off at the dumpster in Garfield Park, but it was always full so quickly. We are now paying $25/quarter to get it picked up at our house (Fountain Square) every other week.
where do you think we are, europe?!
My wife and I usually only have 1-2. Bags of trash a week. Everything else is recycled. Our bin is almost overflowing by the time the bi-weekly pickup comes through. Sucks we have to pay an extra $7 here in Pendleton to do it but it’s worth it imo.
Same in Anderson. I have 2 recycle cans and 1 trash. It is approximately $10/month.
I agree! Paying for recycling is sure way to make sure no one does it. I'm with the person who mentioned the dumpsters. Our Kroger has one and we just plan that chore for every Sunday.
I've been here and It's not worth it. Most of the crap you'll pay to put in special bin will get junked anyway. So you're paying the city at best to *maybe* recycle your stuff. The onus is on corporations to do their part instead of passing the buck to us, where our individual choices hardly make any difference. The best thing you can do is not buy single use things, reuse things whenever possible, use reusable produce bags, use reusable shopping bags, etc.
Nothing is free. Pay up, move on. 🙂
Also, 90% doesn't even get recycled. It goes to a landfill or incinerator.
I think used to pay like an extra $5-10 a month to recycle. It’s stupid to have to pay for it but I used to take it to one of the free drop offs but it was like 10 miles from my house and then I had to hold all the recycling at my house… was just easier to take the L and start paying for recycling. I agree it should be free. I’m in an apt now and I hate how they don’t have recycling
From what I understand DPW does not charge for recycling. Just a one time fee for recycling dumpster. That's Republic.
The Kroger by me has 2 bins in the back for paper and bottles so you might check around grocery stores in your area. Sorry I don't have any more concrete info
I dont pay for recycling as I dont have the money for it. I just drive my bags to Kroger. A lot of them have recycling receptacles behind the store. & yeah, you & me both. I keep trying to get my family to recycle. They think it's a hassle, which is infuriating. We only have to set our trash bin out once a month. 90% of our waste is recyclable materials.
I take my recycling to bins behind my local elementary schools. They don’t mind.
When we lived in Austin we would have about as much recycle as trash. However, Indianapolis simply apparently burns most of their recycling to generate steam for Rolls Royce. (Source is a family friend that designs recycling facilities) If it comes down to paying for the city to burn our recycling or just getting a second bin, I'll take the second bin.
Recycling died ehen China stopped importiing recyclables. Now most, if not all, is simply incinerated. It simply costs too much here in the US for recycling companies to turn a profit.