Recycling gets easier once someone shows you the line.
BARC's About page states the mission this way: “to inspire an environmentally conscious culture in Northern Michigan and beyond by educating people on the long-term value of recycling and making recycling and green choices simple and accessible to individuals and organizations across the region.”
Community education is where that sentence turns into a room, a floor tour or an hour on the calendar. The Education Committee behind it is all volunteer, and BARC itself serves Grand Traverse, Antrim, Kalkaska, Leelanau, Benzie and Manistee counties.
Behind-the-scenes tours
See where the mattress goes
A tour answers the question every drop-off raises: what happens after I leave? BARC processes and ships out electronic waste, mattress materials and industrial recycling, and a group that walks the floor sees why mattresses are taken dry and intact.
Tours are for businesses, organizations and groups. Call (231) 632-2272 to ask about dates and which site fits your group. If you would rather see the streams first, start with mattress recycling or electronics recycling.
The Education Committee
All volunteer, and reachable by email
BARC's Education Committee is all volunteer. To book a talk or ask about the resource library, write to jordan@mybarc.org. For a tour or a training hour, call (231) 632-2272.
Training and consulting is priced like everything else BARC does: one line on the sheet. An hour is $100, and the whole 2026-27 sheet is on the pricing page. For a home audience, a good place to start is what goes in the bin and what ruins it, covered on the recycling for home page, beginning with keeping everything clean of food waste.