Recycling Update & Holiday Recycling Tips
A Styrofoam collection was held in Lebanon on Saturday morning, Oct 30, organized by Sustainable Lebanon and the Lebanon Rotary Club. It was hugely successful with thousands of pieces of styrofoam kept out of the landfill. The hundreds of participants seemed thrilled to have found a way to recycle their styrofoam some of which had been in storage for years. Donations of money was requested and received to cover transportation costs to Massachusetts and mailing of certain items to another facility for different types of styrofoam.
Susan Edwards and Joyce Noll (Sustainable Hanover Recycling) were among the many champions of the day, neatly stacking the material in the trailer to maximize the space. The truck was packed to the gills.
We did chat briefly about a post-holiday collection - perhaps a formal collaboration with Sustainable Lebanon could be explored in some indoor, heated space, or we could consider waiting until the next Upper Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Commission (UVLSRPC) Hazardous Waste Collection in May, suggested by Marc Morgan, Lebanon’s Solid Waste Manager.What is clear is that this type of collection is welcomed by our community.
Use Less Stuff - Holiday Recycling
Did you know that the holiday season generates about 25 percent more trash? The following tips for using less "stuff" during the Holiday season will not only show you how to reduce, reuse but also how to reduce waste in the Upper Valley:
- Buy rechargeable batteries for toys and other items that are used frequently.
- When mailing a present, use a brown paper sack to wrap the box.
- For wrapping gifts, use old maps or Sunday comics, or kids’ artwork.
- Make a realistic food shopping guide- avoid having too many leftovers.
- Send leftovers home with guests in plastic containers collected from other food purchases
- Buy a tree that can be planted afterwards or buy an artificial tree.
- Decorate the house with natural items from the local Christmas Tree Corner Stand, e.g., branches, pine cones and berries.
- Buy lights that are wired in parallel- if one goes bad, the others still work.
- Put your lights on a timer- it will save energy and money.
- Buy in bulk items you will use a lot of and that have a long storage life.
- When sending holiday cards select cards made from recycled content.
- Cut off the front of old holiday cards and make your own or make them into postcards.
- Make gifts out of items that you already have around the house:
- Old clothes and jewelry for a dress-up box
- Tools and gadgets for a young inventor
- Make potholders and oven mitts from old ironing board covers.
- Old clothes, drapes, robes, and tablecloths can be used to make doll clothes.
- Or give a gift that was purchased or received and that is not being used by you. (It’s the thought that counts!)