If this Saturday is no good, our neighbor Rhonda Rollins sends this information about recycling every second Saturday at the KAtlB Community Recycling Center in the Old Fourth Ward.  Here are the details.  Note that this site accepts styrofoam.

George

On March 24 Livable Buckhead and Live Thrive will team up with City Council Representatives Howard Shook and Yolanda Adrean to sponsor a recycling opportunity at the Passion City Church Parking Lot at 515 Garson Drive.  The event is limited to the first 500 people who register.  Here’s the link for more information and the registration button.  Click on Livable Buckhead

Most of us know the benefits of recycling, but just in case here are the reasons Live Thrive gives:

• Environmental Contamination – Some types of wastes, if disposed of improperly, negatively impact our soil, bodies of water, plants, animals and people. They contaminate drinking water and can emit harmful vapors linked to cancer, birth defects and even death with long term exposure.
• Commerce: It’s Local – Georgia’s paper industry recycles 8% of all the paper consumed in the U.S. What we recycle directly helps Georgia’s economy.
• Water – One ton of paper made from recycled paper conserves 7,000 gallons of water.
• Child Safety – Expired and unused medications lying around the house are asking for trouble with little ones. Getting rid of them reduces risks.
• Identity Theft – 6% of the American adult population is affected by identity theft. 9 million have had their identities stolen. (Source: Better Business Bureau) Shredding old documents instead of simply tossing them in the trash can provide protection against identity theft.
• Landfills – Every ton of paper recycled saves more than 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space. (Source: Earth 911.com)

]]> http://greeningneighborhoods.com/2012/03/03/heres-a-chance-to-recycle/feed/ 0 http://greeningneighborhoods.com/2011/09/28/what-we-can-recycle-in-atlanta/ http://greeningneighborhoods.com/2011/09/28/what-we-can-recycle-in-atlanta/#comments Wed, 28 Sep 2011 12:21:45 +0000 george http://greeningneighborhoods.com/?p=1550

Ever wonder what you can throw in your recycling bin at home?  The items that the City of Atlanta Recycles include:

Paper: (no paper towels or tissues and nothing with food contamination)

Glass (All bottles and jars that are rinsed and do NOT have the lids attached)

Cans (Aluminum cans, steel (tin) cans, aerosol cans. NO metal hangers/wires)

Plastics (All rinsed hard plastics #1-7;  NO plastic bags, NO hoses or wires, NO plastic pipes, NO plastic furniture, NO Styrofoam)

Cardboard (Broken down, dry cardboard that fits in the bin. NO Styrofoam)

NO WOOD or Building Materials

The City of Atlanta has started a recycling reward program called the ReCART Incentivized Recycling Program.  The more you recycle, the more points you earn towards popular coupons.  You can gather more information and register at: http://www.atlrecart.org/

RECYCLING FOR ELECTRONICS!

Keep Atlanta Beautiful has been collecting eScrap on the 2^nd Saturday of every month at Walden Middle School.  They have a drive set up so you don’t even have to get out of your car.  You just drive up, hand them your eScrap, and move on with your day!

More information at http://www.keepatlantabeautiful.org/programs/e-scrap.asp

RACE 2 RECYCLE!

The Race 2 Recycle is hosted by Keep Atlanta Beautiful and helps support their efforts in empowering Atlanta’s communities to sustain cleaner and greener neighborhoods. Set the pace for zero waste by bringing old running shoes, CFLs, handheld devices, batteries and eyeglasses for a special Race 2 Recycle recycling event sponsored by IKEA. The Race 2 Recycle is a WSB-TV Family to Family event.

Contact Peggy Denby:  404-249-5853 or peggydenby@keepatlantabeautiful.org.

by Ruthie

Worm Farm Diagram

My wife called me from Canada where she just visited a worm farm and suggested we start one as a way of getting rid of our compostable table scraps by letting the worms eat it, and at the same time, harvesting worm poop (the polite term is castings) as compost for the garden.  A real twof’r.  It sounded like the perfect thing to do.  I’m a bit out of my league here, but this is how it works.

1. Buy a stack of plastic bins with holes in the bottom.
2. Put some shredded newspaper in the bottom of the lowest processing bin (Processing Tray #2)
3. Add a few handfuls of earth to Processing Tray #2 and spray water on it until it is moist.  At this point it will be the only tray above the Holding Tray.
4. Buy some Red or Tiger worms and put them in Processing tray #2.
5. Add ground up table scraps (No onions, garlic, scallion or citrus fruit) and cover it.
6. Wait a couple of weeks.  Add some more food.  Here’s where the artistry comes in play.  If you add too much food it will rot and smell bad.  If you don’t add enough food your worms will die.
7. When Process Tray #2 is half full of worms and castings put Processing Tray #1 on top and add shredded newspaper, moist earth and food scraps.
8. The worms from Process Tray #2 will slither up to process tray #1 leaving behind compost material for your garden.
9. Then just keep repeating the procedure.

You probable noticed the little faucet in the side of the Holding Tray. This is to empty the liquid, which if diluted can be used as fertilizer.

Here’s some web sites where people who know what they’re talking about can be found.

http://www.opentutorial.com/Make_a_worm_farm

http://homeschool.priswell.com/worms.htm

Here’s where you can buy worms, trays and other worm related items

http://www.thewormfarm.net/

www.yelmworms.com

http://www.gardenworms.com

Many Items Will be Accepted

On March  26th, participate in an eco-friendly way to do some spring cleaning. This event provides an opportunity to easily and safely dispose of many of the items you’ve wanted to get rid of, but aren’t safe for the regular trash pick-up.  We will be collecting electronics, paper (for shredding), paint, and prescription medication.

Please read below for more specific details about what we will (and will not) be able to accept and which zip codes are eligible.  Residents interested in this event MUST pre-register before the event.

The best way to dispose of your items is to register on the website below and take your items to the recycle site. For those of us in the Peachtree Hills Neighborhood only, if you can not transport items yourself, or have too few to warrant a special trip, call a Greening Neighborhood representative – George Hornbein (404-304-7399),  Rob Aaron ( 404-345-9053) or Lew Engle (404-405-2576) to arrange for a neighborhood pick-up.

For more details click this link
http://livethrive.org/community/livable-buckhead/

Here’s a partial list of items that will be recycled

• old computers and electronics
• medications
• unused paint
• important documents that need to be shredded
• magazines
• cardboard
• paperback books
• printer cartridges
• household furnishings less than ten years old
• batteries
• fluorescent light bulbs

Lew

by Lew

One of our neighbors reported good things about Freecycle, a group that has a bulletin board where we can post stuff to swap.  Everything from computers to old paint cans is reported to fair game.  Go to www.freecycle.org

For electronic recycling sites go to http://www.ecyclingcentral.com/ Then click on your state for a nearby recycling center.  Many of the sites are private and list items other than electronic equipment that they will accept.

Among the most common items that can not go into our curbside recycling bin are:

Leftover paint, motor oil, batteries, pesticides, ink cartridges, TVs, fluorescent light bulbs, smoke detectors, computers and other electronic devices.

Target and Office Depot take printer cartridges,

The Atlanta Zoo and Southface take cell phones and put proceeds toward their programs,

IKEA and Home Depot take CFLs,

and – wow – Whole Foods now takes wine corks!

If you put kitty litter in paint cans and let it harden you can put them in the Herbie-Curbie!

Recycling keeps waste from ending up in landfills.  While there is no direct money to be saved by recycling, there are deferred costs that sooner or later we will have to pay.  Increased garbage fees will be charged as land fill sites reach capacity and more remote sites have to be opened.  There is also the deferred cost of climate degradation due to green house gas emissions from landfills.  So it does make economic sense to recycle.

Recycling Center

For those of us living in Atlanta, the City is now providing a large 95 gallon rolling recycling cart.  It is a blue cart labeled “RECYCLING”.  Call the Department of Public works at the Customer Call Center at 404.330.6333 to have one delivered.

Atlanta recycles the following items in curbside bins:

All paper products except:

• Paper with food contamination
• Paper towels and tissues

All glass bottles and jars

• Be sure to rinse and remove lids

Aluminum and steel cans including aerosol cans

• They do not take metal clothes hangers or wire

All plastics marked 1 thru 7 except

• No Styrofoam (It is best not to use Styrofoam at all)
• No plastic bags
• No hoses or wires
• No plastic pipes
• No plastic furniture

Cardboard when broken down to fit in the bin

Dekalb County has a curbside program — Call the Sanitation Customer Service (404) 294-2900 or email sanitation@co.dekalb.ga.us for information.

Fulton County (outside the City of Atlanta) has four recycling drop boxes.  For information on recycling in Fulton County and other greater Atlanta areas go to http://yellowpages.cbsatlanta.com/atlanta+ga/recycling+centers.zq.htm

According to GreenPlate, “in 2001, the plastic to plankton ratio in the North Pacific Ocean was 6:1. In 2008, the ratio grew exponentially to 28:1. Single use plastics are becoming an epidemic for our environment – and fast.

We know this plastic epidemic is not going to go away overnight. But we do know that every person can help make a difference. That is why we are asking you to take the 7-Day Plastic Challenge.

The 7-Day Plastic Challenge will be a fun way to get people thinking about the unnecessary amount of disposable plastic that exists in our society today. The challenge consists of 7 “plastic-eliminating” steps – one for each day of the week.

Day1: Don’t take that straw
Day 2: Drinks on the go
Day 3: When it comes to the bag, just say no
Day 4: Change your “to go” routine
Day 5: At the supermarket
Day 6: What’s in your house
Day 7: Reduce, Reuse, and RECYCLE

In order to participate, first sign up for the challenge at www.GreenPlate.org.   We also ask you to talk about it with your friends and family and ask them to sign up as well. Please share your experiences, successes or struggles with us on our website, Facebook and Twitter.

Sign up and help us spread the word.   The 7-Day Plastic Challenge begins Monday, August 23^rd.Thank you for your consideration in being a part of this effort to raise awareness and reduce the use of disposable plastic.”