Denver Recycles

I’m honestly grateful that the City of Denver has a recycling program. When we first moved to town, we had pretty small bin but now we’ve graduated to a big cart that’s easy to wheel to the curb. From the number of purple carts I see around town, it looks like most everyone takes advantage of this service.
I only wish we had pickups every week like trash. Our cart is stuffed full at the end of two weeks, more so now that the City accepts basically all types of plastic and paper cartons, in addition to the usual paper, glass and cardboard. And, yes, we do break down boxes and flatten the milk jugs. It’s awesome to see the amount in our trashcan reduced.
Did you know that the City also has a household hazardous waste collection program? For a $ 15 fee, you can schedule an appointment for a pickup once per calendar year. Items accepted include paint, household cleaners and chemicals, automotive fluids and batteries, fluorescent bulbs, fertilizers, basically everything except explosive devices and medical waste. I’ve used this service a couple of times now and it’s nice to know that all that poison will be disposed of properly.

Many cities charge their residents for recycling, which greatly diminishes the amount of recycling done. I am incredibly grateful for this amazing free service that our city provides. The big purple bins can get full, but this only encourages me to break down my boxes and swish my cans as I should.
The email reminder is a god-​send. Even when a holiday throws off the pick-​up schedule, the email reminder keeps you on track. Now that they take junk mail and magazines, i just couldn’t be happier!

I agree.
We fill our bin to the brim every 2 weeks. In fact, this week we are sneaking stuff into our neighbors’ bins.
Our trash/​garbage has dropped from 2.5 cans per week to .7/​week.
As a Libertarian I applaud the voluntary nature of this recycling (as say, compared with Germany’s). As a taxpayer, I wish that it cost less to recycle than to throw everything in the trash.

The big purple wheelie-​cans are way better than the little bins, for sure. But when your dirtbag friends drink as much PBR as ours do, sometimes one wheelie-​can just isn’t enough. Add in the fact that the Every Other Week pickup plan is just confusing enough (yes, even though we have the calendar on the ‘fridge, we quite often forget to haul it out to the alley), and it’s sometimes a recipe for a very, very, VERY full wheelie-​can.
If we set out the overflow recyclables in recycle-​friendly containers like cardboard boxes, will you still pick them up?
No?
You’d be a lot cooler if you did.