We’ve all been there. It’s the first week of January, and your motivation is at an all-time high. You’ve promised to eat better, move more, or finally get that garage organized.
Good luck. You’ll need it.
A 2022 study found only 9 percent of people successfully keep their New Year’s resolutions, with only 36 percent of Americans making it through January.
One of our goals at SWACO is to help you beat those odds. We are investing in your neighborhood to make waste reduction the easiest choice you make all day.
We believe that protecting our environment shouldn’t feel like a chore. It shouldn’t be a complex puzzle you have to solve every time you stand over your trash can.
Through four major expansions—from food waste drop-offs to high-tech research—we are offering you tools to make waste reduction easier.
Turning Scraps into Solutions: The Reynoldsburg Success
Did you know that wasted food is the single largest item taking up space in the Franklin County Sanitary Landfill? When we throw away leftovers or expired produce, we aren’t just losing food; we’re losing the water, energy, and money it took to get that food to your table.
A 2020 study in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics found the average family in America wastes more than 2,400 pounds of food per year. That’s like taking $1,892 and tossing it straight into the trash.
We want to help you keep that value in our community. We are thrilled to announce that Reynoldsburg is the first central Ohio community to complete our Food Waste Expansion Program. Residents now have access to a brand-new food waste drop-off site at Huber Park where you can bring your scraps at no cost. With the new Reynoldsburg location, there are now more than 35 food waste drop off sites in Franklin County.
Why this matters for you:
- It’s Easy: No more wondering if your potato peels belong in the trash.
- It’s Free: We’ve funded the site construction and the first year of hauling.
Our “Save More Than Food” campaign aims to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030. Every time you use one of these sites, you are helping us reach that goal.
Solving the “Hard-to-Recycle” Headache in Worthington
We’ve all had that one corner of the garage or the cabinet under the sink filled with things we know shouldn’t go in the trash, but we aren’t sure where they go. Car batteries, old motor oil, antifreeze, electronics, food waste and those bulky blocks of polystyrene (Styrofoam) can be a headache to dispose of properly.
We are helping the City of Worthington take the guesswork out of the equation. Through a $30,000 SWACO grant, Worthington is developing a specialized Recycling Convenience Center.
The grant is part of SWACO’s Greenprint Initiative. We are looking for creative ways to capture materials that typically can’t go into your curbside bin. By creating a one-stop shop for these tricky items, we are making sure they are processed safely and kept out of our environment.
“The new Recycling Convenience Center is about making it easier for our community to do the right thing,” said Worthington Service & Engineering Director John Moorehead. “By expanding recycling options and partnering with SWACO we’re proud to soon be able to offer our residents a more convenient way to reduce waste and support a cleaner, more sustainable Worthington.”
Stay Tuned: The Worthington Recycling Convenience Center will be located at the City’s Highland Road Complex and is expected to be fully operational this Spring.
More Room to Grow: New Carts for Our Townships
If you live in Groveport, or Madison, Clinton, or Sharon Townships, your recycling routine is getting a major upgrade. We know that sometimes, you want to recycle more, but you simply run out of room in your cart.
To solve this, SWACO is investing more than $400,000 to provide over 8,000 new recycling carts to these communities. Whether you receive a 35-gallon or a 65-gallon cart, you will essentially double your capacity to recycle each week.
Franklin County residents can learn more about SWACO’s cart grant program at Grants | SWACO, OH.
The benefits go beyond just size:
- Lids stay shut: New lids prevent litter from blowing out on windy days, keeping your streets cleaner.
- Easy mobility: Sturdy wheels make it a breeze to get your recyclables to the curb, even when the cart is full.
The Science of Success: The Capture Rate Study
How do we know if these programs are actually working? We don’t like to guess—we like to know.
SWACO recently completed the third in a series of capture rate studies. This research determines how many recyclable items reach a recycling center versus a landfill and involves a deep dive into the materials arriving at our Jackson Pike transfer station. Our team and consultants literally sorted through the waste from a couple of central Ohio communities to see how much cardboard, plastic, and metal is ending up in the trash versus the recycling bin.
This isn’t just about counting cans. It’s about empowering you through education. If we see that a certain neighborhood is struggling to recycle cardboard, we can provide better resources and clearer information to those residents.
We are grateful for the support of Local Waste and Rumpke in this effort. Data helps us spend your tax dollars more effectively and ensures our programs meet your actual needs.
New Year and New You
All of us at SWACO take great pride in providing recycling and composting carts and containers, opening convenient drop-off sites, and conducting the research. We will always resolve to invest in our neighborhoods.
Now it’s your turn. When you take that extra ten seconds to sort your morning yogurt container or drop off your compostable scraps, you create a healthier and more sustainable Central Ohio.
Let’s not just aim for a better January. Let’s resolve to build a better future for Franklin County.
Ready to start? Visit www.recycleright.org to find the food waste drop-off nearest you or to see what belongs in your new recycling cart.
