Posts Archive

NEWS

Anniversary and Holiday Sale Success

On Saturday December 8th, we hosted our first anniversary with a big holiday sale—and it was awesome! In fact, one of our top-ten sales days...

Drop Off Your Xmas Tree for Free!

Drop off your dried-out Christmas tree at the transfer station for no charge. We'll add it to our green waste compost pile. Just make sure it...

Exchange Online Store Launches

For months we have been discussing how to launch an online store that would first take into consideration our local community. And now we have...

Paint Recycling Now Available at The Exchange

ORS is now a recycling center for latex paint! Gather up your old, leftover, or unwanted latex paint (liquid form) and drop it off for...

Solstice Parade Costumes Designed at Exchange Workshop

We love doing things that support reuse in the community so we were happy to host a Solstice Parade Costume Workshop here at The Exchange....

Exchange at The Grange a Success

The Exchange was hopping on Memorial Day weekend as vendors and visitors gathered for this year's Exchange at The Grange SWAP Meet. Thanks to generous...

Traffic Pattern at The Exchange

Please pay careful attention to signs and direction arrows when entering and leaving ORS/The Exchange. Our traffic pattern is mandated by San Juan County, and helps...

Exchange Reservation System

Reservations for drop-off are only required for large loads. Thanks to everyone’s help (and a little bit of technology) we’ve made it through the “Tsunami”....

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...

Fundraising 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...

Exchange 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)....

Orcas 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...

Phoenix 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...

Just $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...

Fall 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+...

New 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...

Awesome 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...

ORS 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...

Annex 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...

A 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...

Fluorescents 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...

Bring 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...

Recycle 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...

Master 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...

INSPIRATION

My Exchange: A Holiday Hound Success Story

The success of the first year of operation of The Exchange can be measured several different ways. One way is how much it contributed to...

SAVE THE DATE: Great Islands Clean Up Spring 2019

Saturday, April 20, 2019 will be our next Great Islands Clean Up event from 10am to 2pm. Be sure to SAVE THE DATE! We'll have...

Awesome “Talking Trash” Community Forum!

On November 3rd more than 30 committed folks joined ORS/The Exchange in a community forum to visualize the future of the solid waste management here on...

WATCH: How The Orcas Exchange Became a Zero Waste Model

Watch the story of how a rag-tag island swap meet turned into a model non-profit, zero-waste reuse and recycling facility.

My Exchange Story: Mount Baker Farm

When Ruth, Cheryl and Barb bought the Mount Baker Farm property on Orcas Island, they were determined to offer a unique experience for islanders and...

Creativity Shines at Trashion Fashion Show

This year's "Trashion Fashion" show was so much fun! The creativity from all you local artists and designers was inspiring. Thanks to all who participated...

Volunteers Make the Difference at The Exchange

When Orcas Recycling Services took control of the new Exchange building, it was just a shell: a big metal building on a concrete slab. There...

Reuse of the Highest Order

One day in the fall, before the new Exchange opened, an incredible item showed up at the dump: a 1963 Rowe Ami JAL 200 jukebox—full...

It’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...

Doe 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...

The 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...

50k 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...

Island 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’...

Orcas 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...

Thanks 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...

Why 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...

Double 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...

Reuse 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...

ORS 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...

Orcas 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...

Orcas 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...

The 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...

CARTM! 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...

We 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...

Hit 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...

KNOWLEDGE

Be Mindful of Holiday Packaging

It's that time of year again when you order stuff online (yes, most of us do it) and we get inundated with retailer packaging materials...

Solving the Plastic Packaging Problem

Recycle 2.0 was launched with the purpose of continuing education on the current, worldwide recycling challenges. Plastics is a big part of that issue. As...

Sorting Through the Plastic Numbers

We've been discussing plastics a lot lately. And for good reason. But have you ever been confused by those numbers listed on plastics? 1, 2,...

Don’t Waste The Good Stuff!

What’s wrong with this picture? Look at all of those valuable aluminum cans in the garbage! With a little forethought, the person who threw these...

The Last Straw

Here’s what you should know if you enter a restaurant in the San Juan Islands and see signage for, “The Last Straw”: “The Last Straw”...

3,200 Pounds of Clothing and Textiles Recycled in One Haul!

The Exchange accepts all clothing, bedding, and textiles in clean and useable condition. The accepted clothing and textiles are first made available to the Orcas...

China Could Block Plastics & Paper from U.S. Recyclers

The recycling industry is in turmoil. China, the world’s largest market for recyclable materials, has announced it will dramatically reduce the amount of mixed paper...

Secure Your Truck Load for Safer and Cleaner Roads

More than 12 million pounds of litter comes from vehicles each year in Washington State. Litter falling from vehicles is responsible for more than 400...

Exchange Accept/Do Not Accept

In order to best serve the community of Orcas Island, and to make the most effective use of the physical plant known as The Exchange,...

Another 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...

The 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,...

What 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...

Non-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...

Plastic 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...

Non-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,...

Support 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...

Recycle 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...

Non-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...

Hard-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...

Non-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...

Non-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...

Exchange FAQ–Your Questions Answered!

Orcas Recycling Services/The Exchange FAQ March 2018 What is The Exchange? In 1981, a group of community activists created Orcas Island’s legendary reuse...

Non-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...

Recycling: 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...

The 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...

Exchange 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...

Drink 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...

The 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...

No 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...

Why 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...

Dos 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...

Do 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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