We are super excited about our Styrofoam project, and you should be too! We will have a booth the first Saturday of every month at the SFC Farmers' Market at Sunset Valley (Toney Burger Center, 3200 Jones Road) from 9:00 am -1:00pm. We will collect clean, dry Styrofoam to take to the City of Austin's Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center on behalf of the community. Please sign up for this new initiative by clicking THIS LINK, there are two shifts available beginning Saturday, October 7. Volunteers do not have to be Rotarians so you may sign up friends, family, or neighbors to help us. We will have Rotarians involved in every shift. Questions? Reach out to the pilot project subcommittee: Beth, Rebekah or Danny.
This project will support our local neighborhoods, fulfill Rotary International's newest cause of Protecting the Environment, as well as provide an opportunity to spread the word about Rotary Club of Austin-Southwest. Styrofoam is virtually impossible to recycle except through the Recycle & Reuse Drop-Off Center. They have the machinery to chop it up and compact it into blocks that are sold by for-profit disposal systems for insulation, park benches, etc. If Styrofoam goes into the landfill it takes 500 (!!) years for it to break down, releasing potentially harmful chemicals into the landfill. Innovative reuse of it is the best way currently to dispose of Styrofoam.