The ORG believes strongly that everyone should do everything in their power to re-use/recycle and encourage companies to quit using single use plastics.
Our local recycling system only recycles metal, glass, paper and #1/#2 plastics which is quite frustrating as many bottle caps, bags, food containers, etc. are higher number plastics.
Because of this, if you are located near Ripplemead Virginia, we accept recycling numbers 4, 5, and 6 (styrofoams) which we deliver to Sustainable Roanoke. For more info on this, check out their website https://www.sustainableroanoke.org
If interested In dropping off recyclables in Ripplemead, or if you would be willing to help us deliver them from Ripplemead to Roanoke, please email octagonresearchgroup@gmail.com
In the future, we plan to research better recycling methods, and when we have research facilities in other locations, we will search for nearby organizations like Sustainable Roanoke and allow The ORG’s facilities to be drop off locations for them as well.
The ORG has also thought about starting a “Redneck Recycling Range“ (RRR) which will help combat the problem of people tossing glass bottles (usually beer) out of vehicle windows.
The RRR will reward any Recycling Redneck (RR) or person which saves their glass bottles from being shattered on the side of a road. This rewards comes by having a small compressed air cannon that launches cleaned and empty glass bottles into the air. The RR will then use a shotgun to shoot the glass bottle where the shattered pieces fall onto a smooth, thin, and sloped concrete pad. The glass pieces collect at the bottom, and when there is enough glass, a large automatic sweeper moves the glass into a recycling bin for a truck to pickup.
Before this can exist, we need a team of engineers to evaluate the best way to safely do this while also evaluating the overall pros vs. cons. There will be some negative environmental impact from pouring the concrete, compressing the air, powering the electronic sweeper, as well as gunpowder burned for each gunshot. The good news is that in addition to glass, the plastic/metal portions of shotgun shells including the metal bb’s that make up the “shot” can also be recycled and by having the glass in smaller pieces, more mass of glass can be shipped in one tractor trailer load, which will reduce fuel consumption.
Here is an incredibly simple sketch of what this might look like.
The ORG 