As a mom of three kids, we are constantly eating on-the-go snacks and drinks. A quick granola bar breakfast happens often in our house and a run to the fridge for a juice pouch after school occurs almost daily. Our trash frequently gets filled with wrappers, plastic packaging, straws, and juice pouches. While we do our best to make sure our home recycles, there are still plastic items that our house uses that end up having to be in the trash, because they are not recyclable plastics.
Have you heard about the Hefty® EnergyBag™ program? It is a groundbreaking initiative that collects previously non-recycled plastics at the curbside and converts them into valuable energy resources. Hefty® is best known for strong, dependable waste bags, but it is also a leader in slider bags, foam plates, and plastic cups. That is why I was so anxious to get my hands on the Hefty® EnergyBag™ orange bags. Currently, Omaha is a selected city to participate in this program. How exciting for us!
How to get started:
The orange Hefty® bags are available to purchase on their website HeftyEnergyBags.com or at all Omaha Hy-Vee locations:
- Hy-Vee #1 5150 Center Street
- Hy-Vee #2 14591 Stony Brook Blvd
- Hy-Vee #3 8809 W. Center Road
- Hy-Vee #4 10808 Fort St
- Hy-Vee #5 7910 Cass Street
- Hy-Vee #6 9707 Q Street
- Hy-Vee #8 747 N 132nd Street
- Hy-Vee #9 17810 Welch Plaza
- Hy-Vee #10 3410 N 156th St
- Hy-Vee #11 1000 S. 178th Street
- Hy-Vee Papillion 11650 S. 73rd Street
I was able to find the bags in the trash bag aisle pretty easily; I just looked for the orange roll!
What to put in your orange bags:
So many items can go in these orange bags! Here is a list:
• Potato chip bags and other snack bags
• Candy wrappers
• Granola bar and energy bar wrappers
• Plastic and foam cups, plates and bowls
• Shredded cheese packages
• Salad bags
• Plastic pet food bags
• Frozen fruit & vegetable bags
• Pudding cups
• Stand-up pouches
• Squeezable baby food pouches
• Foam to-go boxes
• Packing peanuts
• Plastic utensils
• Plastic straws and stirrers
• Cake mix liners and other dry powder mix liners
• Plastic toothpaste tubes
• Condiment packets
• All other non-recycled plastic bags
I don’t know about you, but we have a lot of those items currently filling up our garbage can. Previously, these items were put in the trash because they are not accepted by the recycling facility. Now we will be filling up our orange bags and reducing waste.
Place it on the curb
Once your orange bag is full, simply tie it shut and then place it in your cart, along with your other recyclables. The orange bags are then sent to and separated at the pre-sort area of our local materials recovery facility. The materials recovery facility then bales the bags and sends them to a local energy recovery facility, where plastics are converted into valuable energy sources.
We just started participating in the program in our home, and I am anxious to share with you in my next post on how the experience is going for our family.
In this day in age, we are always looking for ways we can reduce waste and help take care of our Earth. This is going to bring us one step closer to a cleaner, healthier life.
