We made the switch to sodastream which has significantly reduced our carbon footprint as we reuse the bottles as a bonus the system pays for itself in savings after the first 5 gallon box of syrup.
This and the solar we had installed I feel good about reducing our carbon footprint!
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I also went to soda stream at home… but I didn’t like the flavors… so now I just drink plain old fizzy water at home. Periodically, I longingly look at actual soda fountains… but they are expensive…
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Well, at least until the next time we need to stock up, we have everything we could possibly want. Thanks.
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Lots of ideas being thrown around… I like them all! Perhaps in the near future we will make some changes. First thing I want to do is get a highly visible recycle bin for cans, and one for water bottles.
Then I invite discussion on maybe installing an RO system, and maybe a soda fountain. I don’t know much about the latter, but I’ll definitely look into it! 
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Saw a diy carbonation system a while back. I remember because I thought it would work as a backpack. Then you could walk around events and carbonate peoples water if they wanted… I was gonna make a shirt that said MCo2 and make it look all 90s graffiti…
Sadly that idea is in the middle of a stack of great ideas organized by random. And is in no way in the priority stack. Which right now is all yard work. 
···
On Thu, Jun 8, 2023, 21:33 April Schlenker via MakeICT Forum <noreply@talk.makeict.org> wrote:
| GrapeApe MakeICT Member
June 9 |
- | - |
Lots of ideas being thrown around… I like them all! Perhaps in the near future we will make some changes. First thing I want to do is get a highly visible recycle bin for cans, and one for water bottles.
Then I invite discussion on maybe installing an RO system, and maybe a soda fountain. I don’t know much about the latter, but I’ll definitely look into it!
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Production - especially on the artistic side is hard work. 
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Ah yes!! I was about to say, if we could get an RO system I would love that. Even the Brita filters I use at home still bug me bc of the filters being used up. I would totally contribute to the fund! I drink a lot of water, and would be interested to be able to bring some Liquid IV pouches for electrolytes since Gatorade has dyes (dang allergies lol). Thank you so much for being so awesome April! 
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Diet Coke has been restocked and the fridge is restocked in general. A couple of questions: what is our trash service? I want to get started recycling and didn’t know if our trash service provides that service and if it’s affordable to start using it.
Also, if that’s not a route we can take, what about hauling cans to the recycle center? Who knows about getting $$ back for cans? That could be a good donation service for the space, and we could go once a month. If you have info on this, and on plastic recycle, please let me know. 
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I believe @mikeb was doing this for us until he was no longer available to. I don’t know if anyone took it over. I believe they were putting the money labeled in the donation box in a MakeICT envelope, but it’s been awhile since I’ve heard anything.
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I just started looking at different companies in Wichita online. It’s seems worth the effort and we could make some donation money for the space, for sure. Now I’m wondering about scrap metal from the metal shop…. A whole new can of worms!
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I was taking care of aluminum can recycling before Covid. The place I took them stopped taking aluminum cans during Covid. It was Wichita Material Recovery and they gave true weight and a published price.
The barrel when full was about $20-$22 worth. Their metal prices are here: Wichita Material Recovery Metal Prices 316-303-9303 which continues to not show anything for ABC (Aluminum Beverage Containers).
[Edit: the barrel used to take 4-5 weeks to fill up]
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@mikeb Thank you for this info! I will research and see what I can find out with the companies listed in Wichita that do aluminum cans.
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Was the can recycling being handled separately from the metalshop aluminum scrap recycling?
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I do know they have been doing the scrap metal. I was just sharing the knowledge I have. If it’s still happening hopefully they will speak up.
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I think @rustin.atkeisson is in charge of the scrap metal from talking with him. I believe he says he takes it once its a full truck full to make it worth the time. Unknown if he also takes the cans
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Yes, the aluminum can recycling was done voluntarily by the person purchasing soda and stocking the machine we had at the time. Partially motivated by wanting to recoup the cost of the machine sooner while keeping the pricing reasonable.
[Edit: Can only speak to what was being done prior to March 2020. i have no idea what’s been done since then.]
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I did take steel scrap in to be recycled. This included the big plastic barrel in the hot shop and some of the metal that maintenance wanted recycled in the garage area.
That ended up being about 320 lbs of ‘tin’ with a value of 7.5 cents a pound.
We get a better rate on aluminum. As well as a special pricing at certain recyclers since we are registered as a non-profit. I did not take aluminum cans in this time, but I don’t mind making those runs if a lead asks, especially when there is enough to fill the bed of a truck.
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Sounds like everything I was curious about is already figured out. I’m not a lead, but if you ever want someone else to tackle the recycling, let me know. I don’t mind helping out when I can.
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