How to dispose of Car Seats / Child Safety Seats

Not long ago, we received two emails in one week about how to dispose of car seats. I took that as a sign... indicating that this information needed to be posted to our website.

And, after wonderful collaboration with the Montgomery County Child Passenger Safety Program, we now have just that, "hot off the press": our instructions for how to dispose of a car seat / child safety seat in Montgomery County.

Coincidentally, in checking the links on our new page, I discovered that February 11-17, 2007, is Child Passenger Safety Week, so our information addition is timely!

New "Furniture Exchange" Program offers at-home pickup

When you've got furniture you would like to donate, getting a vehicle large enough to transport it can be a limiting factor...

That's why our new partnership with Community Ministry of Montgomery County should be helpful to you. Through the Furniture Exchange, you can bring your no-longer-needed items directly to the program warehouse, or... request a pickup from your home!

From a Community Ministry newsletter (italics mine):

CMMC’s Furniture Exchange is now operating out of its new warehouse at 12221 Parklawn Drive in Rockville. Clients can shop for their own furniture, from among the stock we have on hand, and schedule their own deliveries with our Client Services Manager. Shopping hours are Fridays from 9:00A to 12:00N. Call 301-468-4830 to learn more about our new program guidelines or visit us on the web at SHAREmc.com. As always, we are in need of gently used beds of all sizes, dressers, sofas, loveseats, kitchen tables and chairs, dining room tables and chairs, cribs, and desks. Your beautiful, unwanted furniture can make a great difference to someone in need. Offer your donations at SHAREmc.com.

Additional tips: We list additional furniture reuse programs in our Use It Again guide. And, our very active local Freecycle Network groups remain another great way to give new life to used furniture.

Household Hazardous Waste Collection: Silver Spring, May 19, 2007

We've announced our first community Household Hazardous Waste collection event for 2007!

This collection will operate from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m:

• Saturday, May 19, 2007: Silver Spring
  Silver Spring International Middle School
  313 Wayne Ave, Silver Spring
  (Dale Dr. & Wayne Ave.)

Updated 2/16/07: we've now got a collection on Saturday, June 30, 2007, too! It will be held at Westland Middle School, 5511 Massachusetts Avenue (west of Little Falls Parkway) ,
Bethesda

Reminder: the Shady Grove Transfer Station has a permanent HHW receiving area, open year-round, daily, 9 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Prepare for your trip to our Transfer Station

Because we want you to know about our regulations for using our Shady Grove Solid Waste Transfer Station before you've carefully loaded your materials into your vehicle and made the drive over...

Check out the Public Unloading Facility Regulations (for trash drop-off) we just posted to our website. Find out which trucks are allowed when, trailer use, and more.

Did we leave your question about using the Transfer Station unanswered? Let me know -- I'll work on getting the answer included on this page.

Praise for a collection crew

I spotted this compliment for a Kensington recycling crew in the Washington Post's Metro section today:

Not only are they about the hardest-working people I've seen in a long time, but they also are conscientious about doing a good job at one of the least-glamorous tasks there is.

Thanks, Mr. Schaper, for your kind words to your neighborhood crew. We agree!

Molded plastic fruit packaging: trash or treasure?

Our field staff are out and about on each collection day. As they walk and drive through neighborhoods, they see the contents of many, many recycling bins.

I received this photo from a field colleague who's seeing a lot of this molded plastic packaging set out in blue bins right now. This packaging style is often used in warehouse stores, and generally holds fruit like apples and oranges.

Thank you for your enthusiasm in adding this item to your blue bins! Unfortunately, we cannot accept these molded plastics in our recycling program.

So, what should you do with this tray packaging? At this time of year, it might be ideal for storing the holiday decorations you're putting away for the next season. Your household is likely to have some other creative reuses, too.

And, if you don't have a reuse for the packaging, please put it into your household trash.

How might I recycle old Christmas lights?

Updated holiday light recycling information posted November 10, 2010

From our mailbag:

Just wondering how i might recycle old christmas lights? (C9 size)

Thanks for your question! A few moments on Google showed that these are the familiar strings of holiday lights.

Sorry, none of our Montgomery County, MD, recycling programs accept these light strings. If the strings are broken, please dispose of them in your regular household trash.

If they still work, consider offering them on your local Freecycle Network group for reuse. Lots of Christmas lights have already exchanged hands, and yours are likely to find a new home in short order as well. That's even better than reycling them!

January 15, 2007: Martin Luther King, Jr., Day - normal collection schedule

Monday, January 15, 2007 - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day - is a regular recycling and trash collection day. All County-provided recycling and trash collections will be made on their normal schedule.

If you have any questions or concerns about your County-provided collection, please contact our Customer Service staff online or call 240-777-6410.

Note: if you (or your community) have a private contract for your trash collection, these schedule announcements may not apply to your trash service -- check with your hauler or community manager.

(Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. The texts of his Acceptance Speech and Nobel Lecture are online.)

From the Transfer Station to the Waste-to-Energy Facility

I previously left you hanging with the question: Where does the trash go after it leaves the Transfer Station?

After waste leaves our Shady Grove Solid Waste Transfer Station, it travels by rail to our Resource Recovery Facility in Dickerson, Maryland.

Waste-to-energy is a process which combusts waste at extremely high temperatures, and converts the stored internal energy of waste into usable energy, such as steam or electricity.

Montgomery County's facility typically operates at temperatures above 2000°F, thereby destroying pathogens, bacteria and toxins. It reduces the volume of waste approximately 90 percent. Electricity generated is sold to offset the costs of operation.

Tour the Resource Recovery Facility

May I recycle Clementine boxes?

The clementines were tasty, but what's to be done with the now-empty box?!

Sorry, in Montgomery County, MD, we do not recycle the wooden boxes in which these delectable citrus fruits are packaged; please dispose of them in your household trash.

The boxes are sturdy, so some people use them for crafts or storage. Others turn them into kindling.

[And if you, like me, now have the tune to "Clementine" buzzing through your head after thinking about this topic, here are the lyrics: http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/lyrics/clementine.htm]

Thanks to "Talkin' Trash" reader, J., who reminded me about this topic!

Before you recycle your cell phone, erase your data

Before you donate your computer, you wipe the hard drive clean of its data.
Before you toss your personal documents into the recycling bin, you shred them.
What do you do before you recycle or donate your cell phone?

Consider using the Cell Phone Data Eraser to get instructions for clearing your phone of its personal information before you pass the phone along.

A "Dump" and "Transfer Station" are not the same thing

Folks often refer to our Shady Grove Solid Waste Transfer Station as "the dump." In fact, transfer stations and dumps (or landfills) are different types of facilities.

Our Transfer Station is literally just a transfer point. Trash gets delivered to us in (comparatively) little trucks, and gets reloaded into bigger shipping containers.

By law, the Transfer Station's "tipping floor" (where the trash gets unloaded as it's brought to us) must be cleaned out before the next day's operations begin. That usually takes a few hours after the tipping floor closes for the day. However, after busy days, this work can take well into the night to accomplish.

Where does the trash go after it leaves the Transfer Station? Keep following our blog, Gentle Readers! :-)

More about waste transfer stations from the US EPA

May I take things from the Transfer Station?

From our mail bag:

"I was at the Shady Grove dump this weekend dropping off trash and I asked one of the workers if I could remove a wheel off of a bicycle that was being thrown away. He said that I could not remove anything from the dump because it belongs to Montgomery County..."

Correct. Sorry, but once a County resident or business brings an item to the Shady Grove Transfer Station, you may not claim it for yourself.

From the Code of Maryland Regulations 26.04.07.03: "Scavenging or salvaging may not be conducted at any system of refuse disposal for public use..."

Why not? Our Transfer Station staff explains:

"The 'no scavenging' requirement is designed for public safety. While picking up a bicycle wheel may seem insignificant, if scavenging were allowed, people could potentially put themselves in danger climbing on scrap metal, walking behind a pile of waste being moved by a loader or simply adding to the number of pedestrians in an area that already has a lot of traffic and a lot of impatient people who do not drive as slowly as they should to watch out for others."

So, where can you look for a sought-for item? Consider asking your local Freecycle Network members whether they have one to give away.

P.S. The facility is a transfer station, rather than a dump. :-) More on that in a future entry...

Deep-fry your Thanksgiving turkey? How to dispose of the cooking oil...

Ok, so after you enjoy your deep-fried Thanksgiving turkey, how do you dispose of the cooking oil?

Why, you can simply bring it to us at the Shady Grove Transfer Station! We now accept up to five gallons of vegetable/cooking oil per visit. Please hand your oil to one of the attendants in the Recycling area. They will then pour it into the proper collection container.

What happens to your oil? It gets reused. Some is turned into animal feed, and some finds new life in biodiesel fuel. It's also possible to run vehicles off of straight vegetable oil!

Christmas tree recycling offered December 26, 2006, through February 2, 2007

Wow! We haven't seen any Christmas trees for sale yet, but we've already gotten our first inquiries of the season about recycling them. Just in case you get this question, too, I want you to be prepared with the answer:

In Montgomery County, this year's Christmas tree recycling collections will be made from December 26, 2006 through February 2, 2007. After this date, Christmas trees will continue to be collected, but they must be prepared according to our yard trim guidelines.

What's special about the tree collection program?

It allows you to put your tree out at the curb for collection as-is. (During the rest of the year, you must cut trees and branches to 4-foot lengths, and bundle all of the pieces together.)

November 23, 2006: Thanksgiving Day Holiday - modified collection schedule

Thursday, November 23, 2006, Thanksgiving Day, is a recycling and trash holiday. All County-provided recycling and trash collections will be one day later than normal.

If you have any questions or concerns about your County-provided collection, please contact our Customer Service staff online or call 240-777-6410.

Note: if you (or your community) have a private contract for your trash collection, these schedule announcements may not apply to your trash service -- check with your hauler or community manager.

• Thursday, 11/23/06, Enjoy the holiday!
  
• Friday, 11/24/06, Thursday's collections
• Saturday, 11/25/06, Friday's collections

Thanksgiving Holiday - Transfer Station closed November 23, 2006

The Shady Grove Transfer Station will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 23, 2006 .

Planning a trip to the Transfer Station that weekend? Here's an insider tip: The Friday and weekend after Thanksgiving are extremely busy. Avoid long lines by coming during the off-peak hours: early in the morning or late in the day.

Today is America Recycles Day

November 15 is America Recycles Day. Its goal is to promote recycling, and things made with recycled content.

Getting items out of the waste stream and into your blue bin is only part of the solution... Recycling helps save natural resources when products are made from "old" materials rather than from "new" ones. For this to be successful, manufacturers need to have customers for their recycled-content products. So, vote with your dollars to show your support of recycling by choosing recycled-content products when these meet your needs.

What are some of these nifty items made from things you recycle in your blue bin? Take a look at this sampling of recycled-content products.

Pledge to recycle and enter the America Recycles Day contest. Visit our website for a refresher on what to put into your blue bin and tips on recycling and donating a host of other materials.

And, of course, don't forget about those other two important waste-related "R's": reduce and reuse!

Paint Giveaway ends for the winter season

We've closed our popular paint giveaway at the Shady Grove Transfer Station for the winter months.

Why?

Freezing temperatures damage latex paint. Because our Household Hazardous Waste drop-off (the home of our paint giveaway program) is not insulated, the material we receive and store there is subject to freezing and thawing over the winter. So, before we give you bad paint, we'd rather suspend the giveaway for a few months.

What if your paint freezes at home?

Your paint may still be salvagable. Check out The Family Handyman for advice on using latex paint that's been frozen, complete with a photo!

Nov. 11, Veterans' Day: Normal collection schedule

Friday, November 10, 2006, Veterans' Day is a regular recycling and trash collection day. All County-provided recycling and trash collections will be made on their normal schedule.

If you have any questions or concerns about your County-provided collection, please contact our Customer Service staff online or call 240-777-6410.

Note: if you (or your community) have a private contract for your trash collection, these schedule announcements may not apply to your trash service -- check with your hauler or community manager.