New Evolution in Recycling

Used light bulbs and batteries, old clothing, and TONS of plastic. Have you ever wondered where all this stuff goes? Well, the hard truth is, it’s wasted! Thrown into landfills that have been piling up for so many years, which is causing severe harm to our planet.

Well, some of that changes now, because of Ridwell!

What is Ridwell? Ridwell is a recycling service that collects items that are hard to recycle. Some of these materials include plastic film, worn-out clothes, batteries, and lightbulbs. Ridwell takes these materials and finds a new use for them so they are not wasted. Over the past two years, Ridwell has prevented over 1 million pounds of recyclable materials from ending up in landfills and, more importantly, our oceans.

You must be wondering, what materials does Ridwell collect? Ridwell collects four main materials and reuses/recycles each one differently. First off is plastic film. Plastic film can be defined as many things, including plastic grocery bags, bubble wrap, plastic Ziploc bags, or other types of covering/packaging. Ridwell takes the plastic film, shreds it, and melts it into pellets, which then are combined with recycled wood to create compound decking material. 

Next, we have threads, a wide spectrum that includes clothing, shoes, sheets, or anything made of cloth that is not wet, mildewed, or badly weathered. The outerwear is given to people in the community while the cloth and other materials can be made into insulation, bedding, or padding. 

Then, we have batteries. Ridwell collects ALL types and sizes of used batteries, which would normally just be thrown in the trash. They separate certain chemicals and metals from within the battery that can be used for many other products and purposes. 

Finally, we have light bulbs. All light bulbs are accepted except fluorescent tube lights and broken bulbs. These bulbs are then processed through special machines to make sure that they are recycled safely and properly. Some light bulbs, such as CFLs (the curly ones), have mercury in them, which Ridwell gives to the state to recycle so it is done correctly.

As sustainable as Lakeside is, could we do better? Some students think we could try harder to help our planet. “It’s quite discouraging that our school makes such an effort to educate our community on how to properly sort trash, yet I still see so many dirty napkins in the trash bin or milk cartons in the compost every single day,” says eighth-grader Caileen W. After talking to Caileen, I think Lakeside could do more education and work toward more sustainability.

Ridwell can be the solution to many of the sustainability problems all around the world, and if Lakesiders follow in its footsteps, like the leaders we are, we could too become more sustainable.