November 15th is "America Recycles Day". It's the only nationally recognized day that's dedicated to promoting and celebrating recycling. But along the Monterey Peninsula, a group of graduate students got a head start with their annual "Trash Bash."

"Oh, there's something mushy in there," exclaimed Sophie Doddimea, as a group of students surveyed a pile of waste just dumped in front of them.

"There were definitely some... some big surprises," exclaimed Sydnie Miller.

"I was really frankly ready for anything," noted Jack Anderson.

The grad students attend the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. All belong to the institute's Sustainability Council and on this day, they all participated in an event called Trash Bash. It's an annual audit of campus waste.

"We were trying to sort through the garbage on campus to try and figure out whether people are recycling correctly: whether they were putting things in the trash correctly, and whether they're putting things in the compost correctly," said Doddimea.

But it's a challenge. A report released in January 2024 by the Recycling Partnership details the U.S. residential recycling system and identifies some significant gaps in the system across the nation.

Included in the report is data about California. It noted how 95% of Californians have access to recycling, but that the state's recycling rate is 37%. On top of that, California has more waste in landfills than any other state.

The Middlebury Institute wants to change that, by diverting 65% of its waste from landfill this year. Trash Bash is tracking its progress.

Once a year, volunteers suit up in protective jumpsuits, gloves, and masks. The volunteers spread across the campus and collect all the recycling, compost, and landfill bins.

Then, they gather by a huge tarp has been spread out on the pavement and dump the contents of the bins onto the tarp to perform an analysis, as well as re-sorting of waste.

"I kind of thought it was going to be a mixed bag, no pun intended," smiled Anderson.

The students found compost in the trash, and plastics in the compost, and recyclables in both compost and landfill bins.

"A lot could have been recycled, and especially a lot could have been composted," remarked Miller.

One recurring big problem involves plastics. Not all plastics are valuable enough to recycle.

Often plastics are put in recycling bins covered in food remnants or containing liquid. That ruins a lot of valuable paper that's earmarked to be recycled.

There is also the issue of throwing food or any organic material in landfill. These organics sit and rot, and produce methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.

After the dumpster dive, the team gathered at the nearby Dust Bowl Brewing Company for beer and pizza. There, they offered to share some tips for our viewers.

"Really just trying to make sure you're using less plastic, and also thinking about what you're buying in the store, so you have less to throw away at the end of the day," said Doddimea.

"Take five seconds in front of trash bins and property sort your waste," added Miller.

To find out how to recycle in your community, go to CalRecycle's website. They have local recycling information for every city, county as well as unincorporated areas.