Daily Press Writer
MONTROSE — The stockings are unstuffed and the presents are open and the best gift you can give back to the community is to recycle as much of your holiday waste as possible.
|
Advertisement |
Corrugated cardboard
Cheryl Gibson, who heads-up the Altrusa Club Environmental Committee has several tips for recycling and reusing items.
“The biggest thing, the biggest items from Christmas are all the cardboard boxes,” Gibson said. “It’s is truly wonderful when you see someone come out to the recycle center with a bunch of cardboard boxes. We simply cannot encourage people enough to recycle all those boxes.”
Gibson also said when recycling boxes to make sure to break them down and remove and packing materials such as Styrofoam peanuts, bubble wrap and even shredded paper.
Western Waste, located at 1150 N. San Juan Ave.. on the bypass, accepts corrugated cardboard along with colored and waxed boxes. Cardboard boxes with glossy pictures and advertising are the most common at Christmas time and are often used to package children’s’ toys along with many other consumer items.
Waste Management operates the recycling center off of 64.50 Road and accepts corrugated cardboard boxes only. No waxed or colored boxes are accepted. Pizza boxes cannot be recycled either — the oils from the food make it impossible to separate paper fibers during the recycling process.
Reusing packing materials
Styrofoam is the well-known brand name for polystyrene — a petroleum based plastic — comprised of 95 percent air, according to the Earth Resource Foundation. “Reusing Styrofoam is very important,” Gibson said.
Following suit of many other California cities and those around the world, San Francisco passed a citywide ban on polystyrene food containers in the restaurant industry. Other cities are currently working on comprehensive bans of the material.
“The problem with Styrofoam is that we don’t know when it will break down,” Gibson said. “We don’t even know if it will break down.” According to Gibson, the packing material which is being touted these days are the air pocket bags most commonly used to ship electronic merchandise.
When it comes to packing materials, Gibson said to make sure not to just toss them. Mail Boxes Etc., 236 South Third St., accepts used packing material that is in good shape. The company uses the materials when shipping packages and allows customers to use of the donated material — saving money and resources. Jim Newman, owner of Mail Boxes Etc. said his business accepts used packing materials as a service to his customers.
“People need a place to take all their packing materials,” Newman said. “This is really a good way to give better service to everyone.” Styrofoam and cornstarch based peanuts, air pocket bags and bubble wrap (that has not been smashed) are accepted at the business. Boxes are not accepted.
Wrapping paper is another big concern for many people - you cannot recycle it.
“Unfortunately wrapping paper is not recyclable,” Gibson said. “The dyes in the paper are just too strong. They contaminate in the melting process.”
Rather than recycle, consumers can reuse the paper from holiday to holiday and move toward more earth-friendly means.
Christmas trees
In addition to recycling boxes and reusing packing materials, there are options for Christmas trees as well. The city of Montrose will pick up litter-free trees without stands from residential curbsides through mid-January, advises assistant City Manager Elsa Anderson.
“We will be making special runs to pick up trees,” Anderson said. “The regular trash trucks cannot take trees so crews will come by separately.”
She said the city couldn’t accept frosted trees. The city will mulch the trees and make the material available to the public. She also advised all residents who had Monday garbage service can expect their trash to be picked up on Wednesday — the same as next Monday, which is New Year’s Day.
Don’t live in the city limits? In addition to cardboard boxes, Western Waste will also accept used Christmas trees. Jerry James, general manager of Western Waste, said their business is working to reduce what ends up in the Montrose landfill.
“We take it all,” James said. “We are on the learning curve now. We still don’t know what to expect.” James said some materials are being shipped to Arizona for recycling. From the dinner table, Western Waste also accepts glass, aluminum and plastics (1-7). The company accepts all recyclable materials free of charge. The business is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday.
Consume less
Many people hit the after-Christmas sales to stock up on decorations and supplies for holidays to come. Ribbons and bows can be saved for next year, and people can look for recycled gift-wrap or cloth gift bags can be bought for reuse each year.
Gibson and Altrusa Club members are also working on an electronics-recycling day on Jan. 13th.
To help out in the recycling effort, the Montrose Recycling Education Committee (Mr. Ec) is seeking volunteers. The group often volunteers at the Waste Management Recycle Center with education and assisting the public with its recycling needs. The group is currently planning its Earth Day event.
Contact President Cathy Crim at 240-3803 for more information.
marqthompson wrote on Feb 1, 2010 3:21 AM:
--------
marqthompson
Noosa real estate "
Kaitlyn Heichel wrote on Nov 3, 2009 2:01 PM:
Sarah Bond wrote on Jul 13, 2009 5:31 PM: