Personal Project: Field Research Findings

 The "greening" of Anyetsang's Little Tibet continues...

Following my literature review, I decided to do some field research in Bloomington at restaurants that I knew recycled, in order to see and learn how their systems are set up and how they function. I started by compiling a list of restaurants in Bloomington whom I wanted to contact, a list that includes:

• Bloomington Bagel Company
• The Village Deli
• Soma
• Laughing Planet Cafe
• Bloomingfoods
• Nick's English Hut
• Upland Brewing Co.
• FARM

Recycling Facilities behind The Village Delli

From speaking with Liz Sanders, a manager at The Village Deli, I learned that the Deli acts as the central hub for a cooperative recycling system between Nick's, Bloomingfoods, BBC, Cafe Django, Soma, and the Laughing Planet. All of the participating restaurants take their recyclable materials to the back of the Deli every day and put them into the properly sorted receptacles. The Deli has a great set up, with a covered area out back behind their restaurant so that the recyclables aren't exposed to the weather and can be better organized and contained.

Plastic and steel recycling at The Village Deli

Cardboard recycling at The Village Deli

The Deli charges each restaurant a fee to participate in the joint recycling program (the exact cost was not disclosed), which goes to cover the costs the Deli pays for recycling pickup to Pedal Power (a locally owned recycling pick-up company that uses bicycles as its mode of transportation) and Monroe County Solid Waste. Liz said that for the most part, the recycling system worked well, but that there were issues with employees not putting recycling away in an orderly manner- apparently sometimes the Deli staff has to go clean up the parking lot because there are recyclables all over the place! Also, the glue on cardboard can attract insects, so the Deli has to be careful and make sure that the recycling facilities are kept very clean. Currently, the Deli is looking into purchasing a cardboard binder that can be used to bind the cardboard and make it easier for Pedal Power when they come pick it up.

Seeing the set up at the Deli and the adjoining restaurants has inspired me to think that a similar set up should be implemented for the Fourth Street Restaurants (more to come on this thought)!! However, since my initial plan was to get Little Tibet recycling, the next course of action is to demonstrate to the owners of Little Tibet that recycling can be done, even on a scale much smaller than the operation going on across the street on Kirkwood! In the meantime, I will also  keep brainstorming a long-term proposal for a cooperative recycling system for the restaurants along Fourth Street!