The bottle collection begins

Thanks to the incredible generosity of the Burbank Recycling Center, we picked up our first couple van loads of plastic bottles last week!

2,000 down. 18,000 to go.....














We connected with the Burbank Recycling Center through our friend Mark Cappellano, who introduced us last month to director Geoff Folsom and recycling coordinator Kreigh Hampel.














Here's Marcus, in deep conversation with Geoff about plastic waste.

Talking trash with these two was a whirlwind "recycling 101" - both are walking encyclopedias of all things recyclable. And definitely on the same sustainability page.

They stepped up BIG time to support "Message in a Bottle", offering to donate all 20,000 bottles for the project, putting us in touch with media and school contacts, and even getting their hands dirty with us.

















Their very patient staff emptied container after container of bottles for us to sort through - we can only use bottles that held carbonated drinks, or thick plastic bottles like Gatorade.





Seeing the amount of water bottles compared to other drinks was pretty incredible, a good 80-90%. We are a without a doubt a thirsty bunch, and have swallowed the clever marketing gimmicks of the bottled water industry hook line and sinker.



Sorting through these all will take some time....Geoff and Kreigh will be seeing quite a bit of us in the coming weeks!