Buffalo Recycles

04/04/2022

The 2022 Rain Barrel & Compost Bin Sale is happening RIGHT NOW!

Make sure to place your order by Wednesday, May 25th!

Visit https://erie.compostersale.com/ for more information!

04/01/2022

The streets on the attached sanitation route maps will be completed on Saturday. Please leave totes at the curb until they are emptied.

We appreciate your patience!

04/01/2022

♻️ Save the date! ♻️

The City of Buffalo is hosting a much anticipated Community Shredding Event at JFK Park from 9 AM - 12 PM on Saturday, April 9th.

Residents can bring up to 5 boxes of material for shredding. Clothes will also be collected and donated! 📄👖

03/30/2022

Look at what you've managed to accomplish across this past month with a little planning and a fresh perspective!

You can now assess the lessons you've learned and use them to help you implement new habits and waste reduction techniques to waste less food.

Comment below and let us know how your challenge went!

03/29/2022

Our Earth Month Calendar is hot off the press!

Make sure to participate in one of our events and sign up for a service event with our friends at The Tool Library, Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper and/or WNY Trash Mob!

Visit our website for clickable links:https://buffalorecycles.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/COB-EarthMonth-Poster-2022.pdf

03/28/2022

Do you remember how much food you may have been wasting at the beginning of this challenge?

Measure and record your final weekly food waste amount. See how much food (and money) you saved compared to weeks one and two. Many families have reduced their food waste by 25% or more!

03/25/2022

Have extra food?

Make a food donation! Contact a local food pantry, soup kitchen, food shelf or food bank to find out if they can use your items.

Visit foodpantries.org to find a food pantry closest to you!

03/21/2022

Use your new-found knowledge and apply these techniques to real life!

For the next few weeks, work on implementing the strategies you've learned to minimize the amount of food you throw out. Pack up those leftovers, designate a day for meal prep, figure out your perfect serving size, the world is your oyster!

"Oh no, I messed up!"

Don't panic! We're aiming for progress, not perfection. Learn from any mishaps and pick the momentum back up at your next meal!

03/18/2022

What's the Difference Between Sell By, Best By and Use By?

Still confused about the difference between "sell by," "use by," "best by," and expiration dates?

We get it! Read this article for a great explanation.

"Best by" dates are not expiration dates—they merely mark the last day before food quality declines.

03/17/2022

Smart Cooking: It Makes Cents with Emma Frisch

Don't worry, we have more tips to help cut down on food waste!

🥕 Look up creative ways to store and display your leftovers and incorporate an "Eat This First" container or area so you can prioritize items before they go bad.

🍌 Watch this video to learn about meal planning, storage, and prep tips from Recycle Tompkins.

🦴 Expand your recipe collection with recipes that incorporate commonly wasted foods such as peels, roots, trimmings, and bones.

🥒 Practice preserving food via freezing, jarring, or pickling!

🥫 Learn the difference between "sell by," "use by," "best by," and expiration dates.

Do you have any tips to share?

Do you find your household throwing away food before you get a chance to eat it? Take a look at this video produced by Tompkins County Recycling and Material...

03/15/2022

Want the biggest bang for your recycling buck? 💵

Metal recycling offers us the most energy savings when compared to virgin material extraction. In fact, the EPA states that recycling steel and tin cans saves between 60 and 74 percent of the energy used to produce them from raw materials!

That efficiency translates to reduced cost. It's simple, we save a lot of energy and money if we recycle metal cans right.

03/14/2022

Did you know?!

Temperature control is crucial in keeping food fresh!

If the fridge is too warm the food won't last and if it's too cold your food may freeze. The suggested range is between 36 to 41 degrees Fahrenheit.

Set your fridge to the right temperature so that your milk and other food items can last three days longer.

Learn more fridge facts here: https://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/article/chill-fridge-out?_ga=2.17095737.1410152092.1614273261-1558832094.1592922883

03/11/2022

Grocery shopping!

Are we planners or last minute shoppers?

Start meal planning and meal prepping for the week ahead! Paired with a shopping list, this can help reduce overbuying at the grocery store and take the guess work out of each night's food choices.

AND purchase your favorite food items like pasta, rice, nuts or even spices in bulk by refilling reusable containers, jars or produce bags. Purchasing in bulk not only means you can avoid plastic packaging but you can also just buy what you need. Less waste!

03/09/2022

Don't know where to start for this food waste elimination challenge?

Spend the first few days of your challenge jotting down all of the food you throw away - uneaten leftovers, scraps from dinner, food that's gone bad, etc. This will help you gain a sense of what, why, and how food is getting wasted through the course of your normal day.

Pro tip: Take photos and share! Public accountability can help you stick to your goals. You'll probably even gain a few supporters along the way rooting you on!

03/08/2022

Yes! Definitely recycle your cans! 🥫

Metal cans -- including aluminum, steel, and tin -- are infinitely recyclable. In other words, they can be melted down and reformed repeatedly without losing quality or mass.

Metal cans are widely accepted in recycling programs so you can confidently recycle them (once you make sure they are empty and rinsed, of course!).

Reminder: This post is referring to metal food and beverage cans; not all metal items belong in the residential recycling stream. Check out buffalorecycles.org for more information.

03/07/2022

The Bulk Trash 2022 Schedule is here! 🗑

Check to see when your district is scheduled for pick up below OR click here to find your district: https://www.buffalony.gov/1465/Bulk-Trash-Collection!

03/07/2022

Food Donation and Food Scraps Recycling Law

It’s !

Did you know?!

In 2019, NYS passed the "Food Donation and Food Scraps Recycling" law and was effective January 1, 2022!

Businesses that generate an annual average of two tons of wasted food per week or more must:

(1) donate excess edible food; and
(2) recycle all remaining food scraps if they are within 25 miles of an organics recycler (composting facility, anaerobic digester, etc.).

Visit https://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/114499.html to find out more about this great news!

Overview of NYS Food Donation and Food Scraps Recycling law.

03/04/2022

Did you know?!

Wasted food is a major contributor to multiple environmental and social problems that we face today - and most of this waste is happening right under our noses!

40 percent of all food produced in the US goes uneaten, according to the Natural Resource Defense Council. ReFED estimates US households alone waste 76 billion pounds of food annually, costing each household an average of $1,800 per year!

03/02/2022

Food Waste Action Week

We are dedicating the next several weeks to helping our residents tackle & eliminate Food Waste in a 31 Day Challenge!

Food Waste Action Week is March 7-13, 2022. If youʼre hungry for change, visit https://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/food-waste-action-week to find out how you can get involved today!

Stay tuned in the coming weeks to learn more!

Article Type Hate Waste Article Subcategory events WASTING FOOD FEEDS CLIMATE CHANGE. Don’t believe us? Well, if we stopped throwing away the 714,000 tonnes of potatoes we waste every year in our homes, it would do the same for the environment as taking 326,000 tonnes of CO2e out of our atmosphere...

02/24/2022

Stop by TODAY!

02/23/2022

‼️Attention‼️

Due to operational challenges, Modern was unable to run the satellite truck today and the following alleys will be serviced for recycling tomorrow:

Louis Pl.
Valley Alley
Linwood Terr.
Ada Pl
Memphis Alley
Old Best Street
De Rutte Alley
Holloway Alley
Woodbury Alley
Cobb Alley
Melta Pl
Keep Alley

cc: 311 Call and Resolution Center

02/22/2022

Stop by the Buffalo Museum of Science TODAY!

It’s Buffalo Engineering Day which celebrates local ingenuity and designers that come together to elevate our community and the world at large.

Activities run from 11AM to 2PM and are included with admission.

Stay tuned for our next Dare to Repair Cafe! 🛠 ♻️🧰

02/21/2022

Encourage more mindful purchasing habits and **breathe** before you buy.

02/17/2022

The streets on the attached sanitation route maps will be completed on Friday. Please leave totes at the curb until they are emptied.

We appreciate your patience!

02/16/2022

Roses can be red,
Hardly ever blue,
Cut flowers don't last,
So what do you do? ❤💐

Roses and other cut flowers are a common gift to let someone know you care on Valentine’s Day. This symbol of love only lasts a week or two. These spent flowers are a great addition for your at home compost pile. For best results, cut the stems into pieces of six inches or smaller, so they’ll degrade more quickly.

Other gifts can provide a more enduring way to show you care, don't waste the love:
🥀 Dried flowers; they can last for years
🌵 A live potted plant
🌱 Flower seeds or bulbs that can be planted in the warmer weather
💰 A donation to an organization valued by your loved one

02/14/2022

🌹 💘 Roses are red. Violets are blue, and your Valentine's Day can be green too.

Valentine's Day doesn't have to only be a holiday of reds, whites, and pinks. In fact, if we're not careful, the February 14 holiday can be one of the most wasted days of the year.

Share your love with the planet by helping your friends, family, and neighbors recycle more, better: https://bit.ly/2uhHYCt

02/11/2022

Looking for something fun to do this weekend, Buffalo Recyclers?

Our friends at The Tool Library built a FREE sled library! 🛷

The Tool Library is still looking for donations of sleds and saucers to keep this little library stocked all winter long. You can drop them right at the Sled Library or to The Tool Library during their regular hours of operations.

Sharing is caring, Buffalo! ♻❄🛷

The Little Free Sled Library LIIIIVES!!! 🛷✨🌈

📍 Check it out at crossroads of the North Buffalo Rail Trail and Shoshone Park.

We believe cost should never be a barrier to enjoying Winter in Buffalo. Sharing more can make it easier to enjoy our public spaces, regardless of season! ❄️

From idea to implementation, this project would not have been possible without funders like in our community to get projects off the paper and on the ground. 🙏

Thanks to our friends at for the bang up construction job! 🛠️

02/09/2022

Happy National Pizza Day! 🍕❤

Last week we got a little too excited but today is the day!

The information still stands: Pizza boxes are recyclable! Crusts are not. Make sure to remove crusts and scrape cheese off the inside of the box before recycling. ♻️

According to Modern Disposal Services, pizza boxes can be recycled in the City of Buffalo because the recycling mills that Modern sells to accept pizza boxes EVEN IF they have grease on them. 🍕

Happy National Pizza Day! ❤🍕

Remember, pizza boxes are recyclable! Crusts are not. Make sure to remove crusts and scrape cheese off the inside of the box before recycling. ♻️

According to Modern Disposal Services, pizza boxes can be recycled in the City of Buffalo because the recycling mills that Modern sells to accept pizza boxes EVEN IF they have grease on them. 🍕

02/07/2022

Have you seen this image before?

It’s called a waste management hierarchy, similar to the food pyramid that we learned about as kids. Ranked from most effective to least effective, when it comes to waste management, you’ll notice that before recycling or even reuse, comes reduction as the most impactful solution.

Before we talk [anymore] about recycling, we need to talk about reduction. The reality is that we can recycle-right all we want but if we don’t reduce the amount of stuff we consume, such as that new shirt, or gadget you’ll only use twice, recycling alone is simply not enough.

As we continue to discuss proper recycling habits with you, we also encourage you to:

🌬Breathe before you buy: Take a moment to pause and think about whether or not you really need the item.
👫Encourage others: Speak to your friends and family about the importance of wasting less.
💸Buy less, buy better: Save money by purchasing fewer things. If you must, and if you are able to, sometimes spending a bit more on a higher quality item can save you from having to replace a cheaper one sooner.

02/04/2022

The streets on the attached sanitation route maps will be completed on Saturday. Please leave totes at the curb until they are emptied.

We appreciate your patience!

02/04/2022

What's the environmental impact each time we hit 'buy now,' and can we change course?

What's the environmental impact each time we hit 'buy now,' and can we change course?

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with author J.B. MacKinnon about the impact of American consumerism on the environment, and how pulling back could positively affect the planet.

02/03/2022

The streets on the attached sanitation route maps will be completed on Friday. Please leave totes at the curb until they are emptied.

We appreciate your patience!

02/02/2022

Happy National Pizza Day! ❤🍕

Remember, pizza boxes are recyclable! Crusts are not. Make sure to remove crusts and scrape cheese off the inside of the box before recycling. ♻️

According to Modern Disposal Services, pizza boxes can be recycled in the City of Buffalo because the recycling mills that Modern sells to accept pizza boxes EVEN IF they have grease on them. 🍕

01/31/2022

We LOVE recycling and frankly, could talk about it all day… all week… all year!

But we must confess, there is something we love even more, and that is Waste Reduction. As a sustainability behavior, it’s a bit of a hard thing to grasp as it is often the act of not doing something (not buying, not consuming, etc).

But the truth is that we New Yorkers use and consume way more than we can realistically recycle. And so, it is important for us to acknowledge that with our current infrastructure and without a significant reduction in the amount of stuff we consume, we will not be able to recycle ourselves out of this mess.