This document discusses the author's efforts to promote recycling along the RAGBRAI bicycle route. It describes how as a high school student, the author reached out to RAGBRAI organizers about poor recycling. Over several years, the author rated recycling efforts in towns, identified successes and failures, and created tip sheets to help towns improve. Key lessons included making sure recycling bins are clearly labeled from all sides and placed next to trash bins. Creative bin designs like cardboard boxes and bins with holes cut in the top worked particularly well. Eastern Iowa towns generally recycled more than those in Western Iowa.

1. Ragbrai Recycling
Laurel Stelter

2. About myself
- Senior in high school from Pella, IA
- Local bike shop employee
- Favorite things to do:
- Bike
- Explore
- Play guitar
- Six RAGBRAIs
- Everyone is capable of making a
positive change

3. About RAGBRAI
- Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride
Across Iowa
- 15,000 - 40,000 participants
- 50-75 miles/day, 400+ miles/week
- LOTS OF FUN, food, and
whacky/inspiring/awesome people

4. Where it all began: 2012
Poor recycling = highly disappointed teenager

5. First steps
- Emailed TJ Juskiewicz
- Invited to first presentation
- received invitation to speak at pass through town meeting
- encouraged pass through towns to recycle
- Shared recycling facts and lots of encouragement
- Youth groups, boy/girl scouts
- Iron Eyes Cody, “People start pollution, people can stop it.”

6. 2013 Results
- Rated each town on a 1-5 scale on effort of recycling:
labels, placement, practicality, success
- Noticeably more recycling than previous years
- Made observations and created more detailed
solutions
- Some towns had majorly overflowing containers

7. 2014 Results
- Learned that labels are critical
- Trash MUST be next to recycling
- Visibility of labels is very important
- Don’t be so structured - it’s okay to have fun with
recycling containers!

8. 2015 Results
- Many towns used my document to decide which types of
containers to use
- Where there was effort put into recycling, it was amazingly
obvious - a great thing!
- Either huge successes in towns or major failures (no
recycling at all)
- Western Iowa needs to step up their game!

9. Tip Sheet

10. Conclusions: Failures - Location
Fence: not practical to empty, in a far location, not in a visible area.

11. Poor labels: AKA the Culprit
Poor labeling of trash vs. recycling created mixed trash
mixed trash: noun,
1. trash and perfectly
recyclable bottles mixed
together.
2. my pet peeve.

12. Poor labeling
“Labeled” Bins: labels need to be visible from all sides!

13. More Poor Labeling
Labels MUST be visible from all angles!

14. More Failures
Colored Bins: interesting
idea if executed well,
must include labels
Trash Bins: Do
not work well.
They are not only
difficult to label
but simply look
like trash belongs
in them.

15. Successes: Creativity
Creative containers: These work well and riders enjoy a challenge.

16. Successes: More Creativity
Painted Boxes: Eye-catching and work/look nicely.

17. Successes: Plastic Bag
Plastic Bag Container:
Easy to transport and refill.
Easy to observe what goes
in the container.

18. Successes: Cardboard boxes
Colored Cardboard Boxes: Easily differentiated, separates trash
and bottles ~beautifully~.

19. Successes: Cardboard Appliance Boxes
Cardboard Appliance Boxes:
very easy to label, can hold
plenty of containers, great use of
store boxes.

20. Successes: Container with hole - THE BEST ONE!
Container with Hole: Easy to place on any container, limits needs for labeling,
obvious to riders.

21. Future questions to solve
- How can communities be encouraged to compost?
- Plastic Bottles vs. Aluminum Cans - are three
containers necessary?
- Why does Eastern Iowa do significantly better than
Western Iowa with their recycling?

22. Contact Info:
Laurel Stelter
stelter.laurel4@gmail.com

23. Ragbrai 2015:​Recycling Tip Sheet
1. Place recycling bins next to trash bins
a. Cut a circle out in the top of the
recycling container so it is obvious
bottles and cans go in it.
2. Place labels in visible areas
a. Place labels high enough on
containers
b. Put labels on every side to ensure
there will be no confusion.
3. Use containers that your community
already has (bins, watermelon boxes, barrels,
appliance boxes). For watermelon like boxes that
are quite huge, write recycling on the inside of
the box, as well.
4. On short or shallow boxes use
2” wide blue masking tape
around the perimeter and write
‘recycling’ with a thick marker.

24. 5. If using containers that require a bag, make sure the
bag doesn’t cover the recycling print. Print sticker labels
and place on the inside of the bag for an extra
precaution.
6. For fence type containers, be sure to make the label high
enough so bike do not block it if leaning against it and be sure
to use cardboard attached with zip ties to the structure so the
label does not fly off.
7. If choosing to differentiate trash bins and recycle bins by
container color, it is not necessary to paint the entire bin.
Painting the top a bright color with recycling or trash
written should do the trick.
8. In the morning or near stands where fruit is sold a lot, it is great to have a compost
bin. Put labels on the inside of the box if it is a small box, like mentioned in tip four.
Note: Your town will not need to place many aluminum can containers as they have
plastic recycling. Most aluminum can containers will just need to be in the area of the

25. beer garden. Riders drink more Gatorade, bottles of water, and other energy drinks that
come in a plastic container compared to pop.