Concerned that so many plastics were ending up in landfills and hoping to show his children the importance of taking care of the planet, Ryan Metzger started collecting his neighbors’ used bags, mailing packets, pill bottles and so much more.
Fast forward almost seven years and Metzger’s company, Ridwell, has 100,000 customers sending him plastics and has kept 34 million pounds of plastic out of U.S. landfills.
Metzger is spending two weeks speaking with Maryland and Virginia residents hoping they will purchase and collect hard to recycle plastics in his company’s bags and then mail them back to him. Thursday, he spoke in Germantown, Silver Spring and Rockville.
Joy Kreskow, a self-proclaimed recycling nut, was delighted to learn she could recycle her plastics without spending a lot of money.
Ridwell staff sort what is mailed to them and find a place for each item by connecting with recycling partners around the country. Sometimes it’s companies like Trex, which turns it into deck boards for outdoor flooring. Other times it’s landscaping companies that create drainage products. Still other times, teachers and artists request compact discs and other products. They deliver old blankets to one man who makes colorful tote bags.
Not everything he collects is recycled. Sports equipment, eyeglasses, eyewear cases and leftover Halloween candy are offered for reuse. Ridwell’s theme is “Wasting less, made easy.”
“Ultimately we found options for what we had,” he said during his talk at the community center at Argyle Park in Silver Spring.
The company website has a spot for people to take a photo of their item and learn the best way to sort it and send it to him. Not all plastics can be sent in the same box. A set of two bags go into one $30 box which comes with a free mailing label.
