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Officials estimate that the Pitkin County Landfill may be completely full 14 years from now. In an ongoing series, Aspen Public Radio’s team of journalists examines how and why the dump is filling up so rapidly, and how local governments are working to extend the life of it.

Eagle, Garfield take final look at trash study

www.garfield-county.com

Garfield and Eagle are among five counties in northwest Colorado that are working together toreduce their trash, and the first step is learning what’s now in the garbage.

Eagle County received a grant from the state to study how it might better divert trash from landfills. The first step was to coordinate with other counties in the region and study what exactly people are throwing away.

Winn Cowman is with the consulting company that’s working on the study. She said the biggest source of trash headed to regional landfills is food. The study shows that this accounts for an average of more than 20 percent of garbage.

 

“A lot of food is wasted every year," Cowman said. "There are ways to get that food to people who will eat it rather than put it in the landfill.”

 

Plastic packaging is another common source of unnecessary trash in landfills. It is becoming more difficult to recycle low-grade plastics, and Cowman advises consumers to avoid them.

She and her colleagues will present the findings from waste audits, surveys and their analysis when all the counties meet Wednesday in Gypsum. From there, local groups can begin to work on solutions.

 

Aspen native Elizabeth Stewart-Severy is excited to be making a return to both the Red Brick, where she attended kindergarten, and the field of journalism. She has spent her entire life playing in the mountains and rivers around Aspen, and is thrilled to be reporting about all things environmental in this special place. She attended the University of Colorado with a Boettcher Scholarship, and graduated as the top student from the School of Journalism in 2006. Her lifelong love of hockey lead to a stint working for the Colorado Avalanche, and she still plays in local leagues and coaches the Aspen Junior Hockey U-19 girls.
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