Orcas Island ExchangePosts Archive
NEWS
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The Exchange Introduces Management Team
Orcas Recycling Services (ORS) is pleased to introduce a stellar management team for the new Exchange reuse center. Jeff Ludwig has accepted the position of...
Read MoreFundraising Goal Met for Re-Opening The Exchange
Thanks to the incredible generosity of the Orcas community, Orcas Recycling Services (ORS) has met its fundraising goals for re-opening The Exchange reuse facility. Fundraising...
Read MoreExchange T-Shirts Available at the Transfer Station
Limited edition "I Helped Rebuild The Exchange" t-shirts are available at the Orcas Island Transfer Station during normal business hours (Thursday through Monday, 10am to 4pm)....
Read MoreOrcas Food Co-op Raises Funds to Help Rebuild The Exchange
On April 20th, The Exchange was the beneficiary of the Orcas Food Co-op's 3% Thursdays Community Shopping Days. We are please to announce that $206...
Read MorePhoenix Rising Community Swap
On Sunday, February 26, Orcas Recycling Services (ORS) held a community Swap Meet at the Orcas Island Odd Fellows Hall. The “Phoenix Rising” Swap Meet was...
Read MoreJust $25k Needed to Fully Fund the New Exchange
MAY 2017 UPDATE: On behalf of the ORS board, its volunteers, and all supporters, we'd like to offer a sincere thanks to everyone who has...
Read MoreFall Great Islands Clean-Up Recap
On Saturday, October 29th, the first-ever fall Great Islands Clean-Up was held. 33 amazing volunteers on Orcas Island braved the rain and wind to collect 620+...
Read MoreNew Exchange Could Be Open Next Summer
“Barring major problems, I think we will open the doors by next summer,” says Pete Moe, Executive Director of Orcas Recycling Services (ORS). “For the...
Read MoreAwesome Exchange Swap Meet!
What an awesome Swap Meet on Sunday, September 11th! It was HUGE! There were over 40 vendors and hundreds of visitors. Thanks to the Orcas Island...
Read MoreORS Team Travels to Manzanita, Oregon
In mid-July, Orcas Recycling Services (ORS) representatives travelled to Manzanita, on the Oregon coast, to visit CARTM (Community Action Recycling Team of Manzanita), a pioneering...
Read MoreAnnex Interior Funded Thanks to OICF Donors
On June 2nd, ORS was awarded a grant of $7,838 to outfit the “Exchange Annex” a multi-purpose workshop, meeting room and classroom in the soon-to-be-rebuilt...
Read MoreA Better Way to Get Your Milk!
Did you know the Orcas Food Co-op offers fresh, local organic milk in reusable containers? Every Tuesday organic milk from grass-fed cows is delivered directly to...
Read MoreFluorescents Recycle FREE!
Since January 2015 The Exchange has been accepting all fluorescent tubes and CFLs (the curly bulbs) for proper recycling at no charge! This is really great, because...
Read MoreBring Us Your Cans!
Aluminum cans are free! Bring 'em in separately, and there's no charge. You will help us start testing a proto-type source-separated recycling program, and any...
Read MoreRecycle Electronics FREE!
Recycling electronics at ORS is now FREE! (Formerly $15). in 2014 ORS became a member of the state E-cycle program and can accept TVs, CPUs, and...
Read MoreMaster Plan
The development of a Facility Master Plan for the Orcas Island Transfer Station was part of the contract when Orcas Recycling Services took over the...
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INSPIRATION
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The Exchange “Wishlist”
While the new Exchange will not accept donations of goods or materials for another couple of months, there are certain items that we need right...
Read MoreMulch Available at ORS — A Zero Waste Product!
For a couple of years now we have been accepting clean green yard-waste material at a significant discount. We just did our first big grind, and now we...
Read MoreThe Great Islands Clean-Up – A Great Success!
ORS/The Exchange would like to congratulate everyone involved in the 2017 county-wide Great Islands Clean-up, that happened on Earth Day, April 22nd. On Orcas Island,...
Read MoreReusable Cup Challenge–Sign-up Deadline Extended!
In an effort to bring attention to the massive amount of paper and plastic waste we all produce in single-use beverage containers, The SeaDoc Society...
Read MoreIt’s Time for Paint Recycling in Washington State!
Nine states, including California and Oregon, now have paint recycling programs in place. Washington needs to be next. Paintcare, a non-profit paint recycling program, was...
Read MoreDoe Bay Resort’s Goals for Zero-Waste Practices
Orcas Recycling Services (ORS) is interested in how local area businesses handle waste management. We have started an ongoing series where we interview establishments on...
Read MoreThe Can Crusher: Recycle Camp at Burning Man
Each year Recycle Camp at Burning Man recycles 4 forty yard containers of crushed aluminum cans. All of the proceeds go to the local school...
Read More50k Pounds of Hazardous Waste Collected
The annual Household Hazardous Waste Day was June 25, 2016 at the Orcas Transfer Station. Many community members gathered their hazardous materials and brought a...
Read MoreIsland Hoppin’ Brewery: A Model for Small Business Reuse Practices
It can be challenging to have minimal environmental impact and create a great product from scratch on an island, but the folks at Island Hoppin’...
Read MoreOrcas Community Comes Thru for Island Clean Up
Orcas Island is once again a litter-free zone! Thanks so much to all 102 volunteers who came out Saturday, April 23rd, the day after Earth...
Read MoreThanks Orcas Middle School!
Big thanks to Laura Tidwell, Phil Carter and the entire 7th and 8th grade classes at Orcas Middle School for coming out to the ORS/Exchange...
Read MoreWhy Compost?
When waste is sent to landfill, air cannot get to the organic waste. As the waste breaks down, it creates methane, a harmful greenhouse gas...
Read MoreDouble Your Donation!
Matching gifts provide you with an easy way to potentially double, if not triple, your original donation! Did you know many companies offer a matching...
Read MoreReuse Tip: Free Mobility Assistance Equipment
Next time you find yourself or someone you love in need of mobility assistance equipment, you can call upon the kind folks at the Orcas...
Read MoreORS Welcomes CARTM to Orcas!
Recently the board of directors of Orcas Recycling Services/The Exchange spent the weekend with board members of CARTM, their counterparts from Manzanita, Oregon. CARTM is...
Read MoreOrcas Island is a Ton More Beautiful
The annual Great Islands Clean-Up was a great success! Orcas Islanders picked up more than one ton of litter in just a few hours and...
Read MoreOrcas 8th Graders Dissect Our Recycling…
...and it doesn't look very good. Take a look at this video featuring Laura Tidwell's 8th grade science class as they tear open random bags...
Read MoreThe Story Of Stuff
...and that's PER PERSON folks...check out this terrific video about what's really happening with garbage. This covers the whole system, but also is dead-on when...
Read MoreCARTM! Where it is happening now!
We are inspired by CARTM, the reuse and transfer station in our favorite Oregon coastal town, Manzanita. They are doing what we intend to do on...
Read MoreWe Hate Styrofoam
Few materials designed by humans are as lame as Styrofoam. They use gallons of fossil fuel to make, are not recyclable, and don't breakdown. AND there...
Read MoreHit The Beach!
Hmmm... We have lots of beach and wave action and glass is the heaviest recyclable we need to haul off island at greatest cost... Sea...
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KNOWLEDGE
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New Policy: Exchange Accept/Do Not Accept
With the new Exchange scheduled to open this fall, ORS is rolling out new policies. The first is the “Accept/Do Not Accept” policy. In order...
Read MoreAnother Big Hazardous Waste Roundup!
On June 24th, more than 150 cars and trucks loaded with household toxic material showed up at the Orcas Transfer Station, where it was safely...
Read MoreThe Kitchen Continues to Raise the Bar for Restaurant Waste Management
Periodically we like to focus on a local business and how they handle their waste stream. One of the best on Orcas is The Kitchen,...
Read MoreWhat is Zero Waste?
Our mission at Orcas Recycling Services / The Exchange is to build a zero waste community through service, education and stewardship of Orcas Island’s waste...
Read MoreNon-Recyclable Item of the Month: Paper Cups
Americans consume 400 million cups of coffee per day or equivalent to 146 billion cups of coffee per year, making the United States the leading...
Read MorePlastic Bag Ban in San Juan County
In October 2016 the San Juan County Council unanimously approved an ordinance banning the use of single-use plastic shopping bags. A significant source of litter, plastic bags...
Read MoreNon-Recyclable Item of the Month: Textiles
Although textiles aren’t recyclable in our co-mingled recycling at ORS, they should not be thrown in the trash. A staggering 95% of textiles like clothes,...
Read MoreSupport The Exchange When Shopping Amazon
"AmazonSmile" is a simple and automatic way for you to support your favorite 501(c)3 charitable organization every time you shop on Amazon.com, at no cost...
Read MoreRecycle These Items for Free at ORS
ORS accepts a number of items at no charge to the community. Programs like this help to keep toxic materials like lead, mercury, heavy metals, and...
Read MoreNon-Recyclable Item of the Month: Shredded Paper
We've been accepting it for years, but unfortunately the days of recycling shredded office paper appear to be over. Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs) around the Country...
Read MoreHard-To-Recycle Item of the Month: Caps & Lids
While most plastic lids and caps are technically recyclable, their small size is a problem for sorting facilities. Like loose plastic bags, shredded paper and...
Read MoreNon-Recyclable Item of the Month: TetraPak
You’ve seen ‘em, you use ‘em, everyone does. These are the rectangular cartons that hold soups and soup stock. They are also commonly used for...
Read MoreNon-Recyclable Item of the Month: Air-Filled Packaging
Bubble wrap, air pillow, inflatable packaging, bubble roll, bubble tubing… this product goes by many names, but the bottom line is the same: none of...
Read MoreExchange FAQ–Your Questions Answered!
Orcas Recycling Services/The Exchange FAQ Summer 2017 In an ongoing effort to keep everyone up-to-date on the progress of the "Rebuild The Exchange"...
Read MoreNon-Recyclable Item of the Month: FOOD
Non-recyclable items frequently end up in the recycling bin, causing a slew of problems. In this regular feature, we will focus each time on something that...
Read MoreRecycling: Whose Responsibility Is It Anyway?
Most of us believe that recycling is our civic and environmental duty. And certainly, as the system is designed now, it is. But if you dig...
Read MoreThe Realities of Plastic Recycling
Recycling plastic is confusing. What is and is not acceptable can change from month to month and can change dramatically depending on where the plastics...
Read MoreExchange Progress Public Forum Recap
If you would like to get all the details on the progress, challenges, and plans for the new Exchange reuse facility, watch this progress report...
Read MoreDrink Out of Aluminum!
No other container can match the energy savings and value that aluminum brings to recycling. Not only is the packaging incredibly sustainable, but it also...
Read MoreThe Glass Problem
We have talked in the past about the problem with glass in the recycling stream. The problem is no one wants it. It is a commodity with...
Read MoreNo More Plastic Bags…
Attention Orcas Recyclers: No More OPAQUE Plastic Bags! Please bring recyclables loose, in clear bags, or in recyclable containers like a cardboard box, or brown...
Read MoreWhy We Gotta Recycle Batteries
ORS/The Exchange is excited to be accepting batteries of all kinds for proper disposal. Vehicle batteries are free, all others are $2.00 per pound. Here...
Read MoreDos and Don’ts of Recycling
It is no simple task to nail down the fine details of what is and what is not recyclable. Recycling is driven by an aftermarket...
Read MoreDo you know where your landfill is?
It’s in the south east corner of Washington, near the town of Roosevelt. It's about 7,000 feet from the Columbia River. Across the river in...
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