Are you confused about what items can be recycled? Do you think it doesn’t make a difference anyway so why bother? OR do you think you have the whole recycling thing figured out? If so, you might want to read on!

A group of Urban Ecology staff had the opportunity to tour The Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) where all of our recyclables are sorted, baled and sold to other facilities that use them to create new products. The Milwaukee Recycling Facility serves both the City of Milwaukee and over 20 communities in Waukesha County. The city works with an educational partner, Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful (KGMB), to provide tours, programs, and recycling information. On the tour, we discovered that in one way or the other, we all were misinformed about how recycling actually works in Milwaukee. (If you live in a community outside of the MRF service area you may want to check your neighborhood’s website as the information shared in this blog may be different.)

Thanksgiving is the busiest time of year for travel in the United States. Last year, over 50 million Americans traveled on average 50 miles to reach their Thanksgiving destination, and nearly 90% was by automobile. But, people aren’t the only ones logging in the miles. American food travels an average of 1,500 to 2,500 miles from farm to table, according to the Worldwatch Institute.

Summer is finally here, tomorrow is the 4^th of July and for many people that means its cookout time! Cooking outside with friends and neighbors is a great way to enjoy the warmer weather, but these gatherings can also generate a lot of waste and have a negative impact on the environment. Here are some tips to make your cookout ecofriendly.

Earlier this month the Urban  Ecology Center staff had the opportunity to tour the Jones Island Water Reclamation Facility. We had a behind the scenes look at what happens to our wastewater and learned some interesting facts along the way.

Is junk mail overcrowding your mailbox? If so, you’re not alone; the Environmental Protection Agency reports Americans as a whole receive close to five million tons of junk mail every year and according to the US Postal Service, 59% of all mail delivered is advertising mail, and only about half of it ever gets read. That equates to a lot of wasted paper and even when it can be recycled it still takes a lot of resources to print it in the first place. The Urban Ecology Center receives a lot of junk mail too and here’s how we’re taking steps to (hopefully) get rid of it permanently!