Striving to set a better example for recycling, Washington County offices have engaged in an aggressive campaign to divert 70 percent of what's thrown into garbage cans to greener uses.
About 200 county employees now are being asked to sort waste into containers for recycling and compost. A second phase of the effort, beginning in February, will involve all 1,100 county employees at offices in Stillwater, Cottage Grove, Forest Lake and the public works shop in Stillwater Township.
"We're trying to implement it countywide and practice what we preach," said Judy Hunter, the senior program manager in the county's Public Health and Environment division who is leading the effort.
The pilot project began after the county discovered that employees were producing about 57,500 pounds of garbage a year, equivalent to about 52 pounds per person. The project, named "Divert 70," aims to reduce that per-person number to less than 16 pounds a year.
"The intent is to make it very clear, whether you're in your office or workspace, that you need to handle waste differently," said Lowell Johnson, the division director.
Counties have a vested interest in encouraging more residential recycling because of updated state objectives requiring that nearly half of all households must recycle by 2015. State standards will require as much as 60 percent by 2030.
In Washington County, the Divert 70 project is seen as putting the county's house in order even as a team of representatives from several cities develops a "performance scorecard" to measure countywide progress in residential recycling.
Hunter, who's a member of that team, said that improving recycling rates presents a challenge because various haulers serve cities in different fashions and recycling programs vary.
