Personal Project (Tangent): An Update on Developing a 4th St Cooperative Recycling System

View of restaurants along 4th St. in Bloomington IN.

Over the last two weeks, I have been working on gauging interest in forming a recycling co-operative with the other restaurants on 4th Street, in a similar fashion to the operation going on at The Village Deli. This project is tangentially related to my personal project, "The Greening of Little Tibet," and will not be completed this semester, but is instead a long-term goal that I would love to see come to fruition over the course of the next year.

My initial work regarding this idea has included the initial field research into the Deli's cooperative system, ongoing discussions with Liz Sanders, manager at the Village Deli, and most recently, the development of a survey (see below). Before continuing with the idea of creating a recycling co-operative on 4th St, I want to see what the general perception and attitude toward recycling are at the restaurants.

In my initial post stating the subject of my personal project, I made the assumption that all of the restaurants along 4th St lack well-developed recycling capabilities, and while I am fairly certain that this is indeed the case, I want to find out for sure, as well as determine what barriers exist that deter these restaurants from recycling. Thus, over the last several weeks  I have developed a survey  (thank you SurveyMonkey!)to address some of these questions and concerns and have begun to administer it to the restaurants along 4th Street.


Below you will find an example of the survey that I am asking the restaurants to fill out. Once I have some responses, I'll check back in with another update on this long-term project!

(Sample) Survey to Gauge Recycling Interest on Fourth Street

Business Name:

Contact Person:

1. What materials does your business CURRENTLY recycle? Indicate all that apply.

a) Cardboard           

b) Steel                       

c) Plastic           

d) Glass                       

e) Other recyclables

f) We do NOT currently recycle.                       

g) We didn’t realize the above materials are recyclable.

2. What barriers deter you from recycling? Indicate all that apply.

a) Cost: Recycling is too expensive                                   

b) Space: There is no room for recycling at our facility

c) Time: Too hard to separate recycling from trash           

d) Time: Too hard to get the recycling to a recycling center

e) Lack of interest in recycling.                                   

f) Unaware that these materials are recyclable.

3. If recycling were offered at a consolidated site along “Restaurant Row” on 4^th Street, would your business be interested in participating in recycling?

a) Yes                        b) No                         c) Maybe

4. What would deter you from participating in a cooperative consolidated recycling system for 4^th St Restaurants?

a) Cost (If it was too expensive)                       

b) Space (There would be no room for recycling storage)

c) Time (It would be too hard to separate recyclables from waste)

d) Time (Employees wouldn't want another task to perform)

e) Other (Explain: ___________________________________________________)

5. What would encourage you to participate in a cooperative consolidated recycling system for 4^th St Restaurants?

a) Being able to advertise as being "Green" and/or "Sustainable"

b) Reduction in quantity of waste (and potentially costs)

c) Nothing, I have no interest in recycling.

d) Other (Explain: _____________________________________________________)

6) How much might you be willing to pay for recycling pick up each month? (Write in a dollar amount below.)

7) Would like to be contacted in the future if further plans develop to implement a cooperative recycling system for 4th St Restaurants?

a) Yes                        b) No