4 solutions for managing your autumn leaves

Those colorful autumn leaves are a treat for the eyes. As they drop, their crunch underfoot speaks that it's definitely Fall. But, at some point, the leaves may simply need to go.

There are a number of ways to use leaves in your yards and gardens. In addition, here are four solutions Montgomery County offers for managing your autumn leaves:

1. Compost them

Compost your leaves to break them down into a rich resource for your soil.

We offer compost bins at no charge for pickup at 19 locations around the County.

If you need composting pointers to get you started, we've got those, too.

2. Set them out for weekly yard trim collection

In Montgomery County, Maryland, we collect yard trim -- leaves, grass, brush, and Christmas trees -- year round.

For weekly curbside yard trim pickups, we accept leaves in

• paper yard trim bags
• reusable cans labeled with green yard trim stickers

Tip: do not put your leaves in plastic bags, as we cannot accept these bags.

3. Rake them to the curb for leaf vacuuming

Some neighborhoods receive leaf vacuuming from the County's Division of Highway Services. In 2014, leaf vacuuming will begin on November 10.

See details about leaf vacuuming, including a Leaf Collection District Map, and approximate collection dates.

Tip: when you rake leaves to the curb, keep your piles out of the street.

4. Deliver them to the Shady Grove Transfer Station and Processing Facility

You may deliver leaves, either loose or in bags, directly to our Shady Grove Transfer Station and Processing Facility.

We accept yard trim loads under 500 pounds daily at no charge. If your load is 500 pounds or more, enter through the Truck Entrance, open Monday through Saturday; the fee schedule will apply.

This time of year is very busy at the Transfer Station, so we recommend using our curbside pickups for leaves and other yard trim when you can. If you do bring these materials to the Transfer Station, aim for our off-peak times, including our weekday evening hours for loads under 500 pounds.

Tip: remember to cover your load.

What happens to the leaves we collect and vacuum?

The leaves picked up as weekly yard trim and in the leaf vacuuming go to the Montgomery County Composting Facility. There, they are processed into compost marketed as Leafgro.

Columbus Day 2014 - normal recycling and trash collection schedule

Sign up for our Holiday Reminder email and text messages

Columbus Day: Monday, October 13, 2014 is a regular recycling and trash collection day. All County-provided recycling and trash collections this week will be made on their normal schedule.

If your collection day is	Your collection day this week is
Monday	Monday, October 13, 2014 (no change)
Tuesday	Tuesday, October 14, 2014 (no change)
Wednesday	Wednesday, October 15, 2014 (no change)
Thursday	Thursday, October 16, 2014 (no change)
Friday	Friday, October 17, 2014 (no change)

If you have questions or concerns about your County-provided collection, please contact the Montgomery County Customer Service Center (MC311) at 311 (out-of-County: 240-777-0311, TTY: 301-251-4850) or @311MC311.

If you (or your community) have a private contract for your trash collection, or if you live in a municipality, our schedule announcements may not apply to your trash service -- check with your hauler or community manager.

To add our recycling/trash collection schedule changes directly to your electronic calendar, subscribe to this link.

Shady Grove Processing Facility and Transfer Station

Transfer Station location, hours and other details

• Saturday, October 11, 2014: Open with normal hours.
• Sunday, October 12, 2014: Open with normal hours.
• Monday, October 13, 2014: Open with normal hours.

Poolesville Beauty Spot

Beauty Spot location, hours and other details

• Saturday, October 11, 2014: Open with normal hours.
• Sunday, October 12, 2014: Open with normal hours.

Community Paper Shredding and Recycling - November 15, 2014
Our next paper shredding and recycling event is Saturday, November 15, 2014, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Northwest High School in Germantown. We will also be accepting donations of reusable clothing and household goods.

See full event information, including details about the usable clothing and household item donations accepted.

Compost bins for autumn leaves
We've got compost bins available at 19 locations across Montgomery County! Pick one up, pop in those autumn leaves, and enjoy the resulting "black gold" for your garden.

See our bin pickup location map and list.

Follow us on Instagram
Join us out "in the field" through images we're now sharing on Instagram. For example, see the vintage remedy we received at our Hazardous Waste Drop-off recently.

Follow the Department of Environmental Protection on Instagram.

Thanks for a Great County Fair!

Crossposted on My Green Montgomery

Did you know that the County Fair is the most important outreach event for the Department of Environmental Protection each year?  It is the time where DEP staff get to talk to County residents, share our latest programs and events and get the pulse on what is important to County residents.

This year was a huge success for DEP at the fair! We had 2 booths – one for our Division of Solid Waste Services with information on trash, recycling and composting and one booth for our Division of Watershed Management and the Office of Sustainability.

What Happened at the Fair?

• The Division of Solid Waste Services (SWS) spoke to 8,464 people.
• The Watershed Management Division (WMD) and the Office of Sustainability talked to 5,823 people including a Division record 1,186 people on Sunday alone!
• Visitors got to spin the wheel on our watershed and recycling trivia games as well as try their luck at the new sustainability trivia board.
• SWS distributed 309 compost bins.  That’s a lot of yard trim diverted from our trash!
• WMD and the Office of Sustainability hosted stream critters for kids including 4 species of frogs and toads, a crayfish, a snake and numerous fish.  After three days at the fair, they were released back into the wild.
• Both tables had numerous volunteers including students, families, individuals and current DEP staff.
• We were visited by a princess, and the County Executive.

The Grand Champion Educational Award blue ribbon

We’re Award Winners!

The Division of Solid Waste Services was awarded the 2014 Montgomery County Agricultural Fair Grand Champion Educational Award.  The award is based on a number of criteria, including overall appearance and interaction with patrons. A panel of judges evaluates all of the vendors/exhibitors and awards nine ribbons in the commercial exhibitor category. This year, SWS promoted the county’s goal to reduce waste and recycle 70% by 2020. SWS staff and recycling volunteers provided the public with information about waste reduction, recycling, reuse opportunities, buying recycled-content products, grasscycling, backyard and on-site composting, and more.  Congratulations to the entire SWS team!

The Watershed Management and Office of Sustainability Tent

The Solid Waste Services tent

Did you try out the sustainability trivia?

We were visited by a Princess!

-- Jessica Jones, Program Manager, Outreach and Education

Labor Day 2014 - modified recycling and trash collection schedule

Sign up for our Holiday Reminder email and text messages

Labor Day: Monday, September 1, 2014: No County-provided collection services will occur on this day. After the holiday, all County-provided recycling and trash collections will slide, and be one day later than normal.

If your collection day is	Your collection day this week is
Monday	Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Tuesday	Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Wednesday	Thursday, September 4, 2014
Thursday	Friday, September 5, 2014
Friday	Saturday, September 6, 2014

If you have questions or concerns about your County-provided collection, please call the Montgomery County Customer Service Center (MC311) at 311 (out-of-County: 240-777-0311, TTY: 301-251-4850).

If you (or your community) have a private contract for your trash collection, or if you live in a municipality, our schedule announcements may not apply to your trash service -- check with your hauler or community manager.

To add our recycling/trash collection schedule changes directly to your electronic calendar, subscribe to this link.

Shady Grove Processing Facility and Transfer Station

Transfer Station location, hours and other details

• Saturday, August 30, 2014: Open with normal hours.
• Sunday, August 31, 2014: Open with normal hours.
• Monday, September 1, 2014: Entire facility closed.

Poolesville Beauty Spot

Beauty Spot location, hours and other details

• Saturday, August 30, 2014: Open with normal hours.
• Sunday, August 31, 2014: Open with normal hours.

Two easy tips for best collection

Our field staff finds that two easily-solved problems cause many of the missed collections to which they respond. To help prevent misses:

• Set your items out at the curb by 7 a.m.
  On your collection day, place all of your recyclables, yard trim, and trash (if we provide your trash service) at the curb by 7:00 a.m. All items for collection must be placed directly at the curb, or unobstructed on your property, within 10 feet of the curb.
  
• Label reusable yard trim containers with our green stickers.
  When using reusable containers for your yard trim, label the containers with our green yard trim stickers, and arrange the containers with the labels facing the street. Order yard trim stickers at no charge.
  

To report a missed collection, call the Montgomery County Customer Service Center at 311 (out-of-County: 240-777-0311, TTY: 301-251-4850).

Proper propane cylinder and tank disposal

Oops! Propane cylinders and tanks are not curbside blue bin items. If you cannot return tanks to a supplier for reuse, bring them to us at the Shady Grove Processing Facility and Transfer Station. See propane tank drop-off details.

So far this year, we have collected more than 3,000 propane cylinders and tanks at the Recycling Center that were improperly discarded as recyclable curbside materials. These create explosion risks, and cause problems during recyclable sorting. Learn more about propane cylinders and tanks at the Recycling Center.

How to dispose of propane cylinders

Propane cylinders pulled aside at the Recycling Center

Oops! Propane cylinders and tanks are not curbside blue bin recyclables.

If you cannot return these items to a supplier for reuse, bring them to us at the Shady Grove Processing Facility and Transfer Station. See propane cylinder and tank drop-off details.

We are seeing increased numbers of propane tanks coming to our Recycling Center through the curbside recycling program. So far this year, we have collected more than 3,000 propane tanks that were improperly discarded as recyclable curbside materials.

Propane cylinders and tanks are a problem because our recycling equipment is not designed to handle such materials. Also, they can create jams in the sorting process which can cause severe damage to the equipment.

Additionally, many times these small containers are still under pressure and even contain leftover propane and other substances. Those leftovers can cause explosions if the containers are damaged, potentially injuring someone if the contents begin to leak.

July 2014 Sign Sweep cleans up County right-of-way areas

On Wednesday, Montgomery County Division of Solid Waste Services staff participated in the July 2014 "Sign Sweep".

The Sweep team -- about 60 colleagues from the Departments of Environmental Protection, Housing and Community Affairs, Permitting Services, and Transportation -- gathered in the morning for instructions.

Teams then split up according to their assignments, and set to work.

The group collected roughly 2,000 signs from County right-of-way areas, and delivered them to the Shady Grove Processing Facility and Transfer Station. They sorted the signs by material, and recycled what they could.

Look at that pile of metal signs and sign holders, a fitting background for this media interview with Sign Sweep Coordinator Ehsan Motazedi, Division Chief, Zoning and Site Plan Enforcement!

What should you do if you see a sign on a County right-of-way? Let us know its location by calling the Montgomery County Customer Service Center at 311 (or 240-777-0311; TTY: 301-251-4850). 

Please do not remove signs yourself (unless you are picking up your own sign)! Let us take away the signs you spot to:

• Avoid danger. (We only send out trained staff in removal teams.)
• Avoid any confrontation with sign owners.

We are planning to repeat the Sign Sweep effort twice a year, but please call any time you see a sign out of place on a right-of-way.

For more information about signs:

• Political signs (PDF) - Fact sheet on size, placement and required permits
• Sign permits, including the application process, fees, and more

Yard trim observations - Intern report

Hey All,

This is Thomas the intern. In case you didn’t see my previous post, I’ll remind you that I am the person who's been looking through your recycling for the past few weeks. While for the most part, everyone seems to get the general idea of recycling, I have noticed some confusion about yard trim.

 "Yard trim" includes leaves, grass, and brush. Yard trim is recycled on your collection day. Just put yard trim out next to your other recycling, by 7:00 am on your day of collection. You may prepare yard trim in three different ways:

1. in a reusable container marked by a green yard trim sticker, 
2. in yard trim paper bags, or 
3. bundled by twine.

Now, I know I said put them in a container. But, that does not include your blue bin:

Oops! Logs in blue recycling bin.

Your blue bin is only for cans, bottles, jars and plastic containers and lids.

"Container" does not include blue wheeled carts either:

Another oops! Branches in blue wheeled paper recycling cart.

Your blue wheeled cart is only for paper and cardboard.

Reusable containers should be marked by a green sticker, so that the yard trim truck crew can spot them easily:

Yard trim can identified by sticker

Yard trim is picked up by a separate truck. If the truck's crew cannot tell what is inside of a container or bag, they may drive by and miss your items because they don't know that the items are for them.

Oops! Yard trim set out in a small paper shopping bag.

This yard trim set-out is a step in the right direction! But, the yard trim crew may very well miss it. They are looking for bigger paper bags, like these:

Branches prepared for yard trim pickup in large, paper lawn and garden bags.

If you have a container that you want to use for yard trim, identify it with one of our yard trim stickers. You may request stickers online or by calling the Montgomery County Customer Service Center at 311 (or 240-777-0311; TTY: 301-251-4850). It really helps the yard trim trucks know what to take!

Until next time,
-Thomas, Intern

Independence Day 2014 - modified recycling and trash collection schedule

Sign up for our Holiday Reminder email and text messages

Independence Day: Friday, July 4, 2014: No County-provided collection services will occur on this day. Friday recycling and trash collections will slide, and be one day later than normal.

If your collection day is	Your collection day this week is
Monday	Monday, June 30, 2014 (no change)
Tuesday	Tuesday, July 1, 2014 (no change)
Wednesday	Wednesday, July 2, 2014 (no change)
Thursday	Thursday, July 3, 2014 (no change)
Friday	Saturday, July 5, 2014

If you have questions or concerns about your County-provided collection, please call the Montgomery County Customer Service Center (MC311) at 311 (out-of-County: 240-777-0311, TTY: 301-251-4850).

If you (or your community) have a private contract for your trash collection, or if you live in a municipality, our schedule announcements may not apply to your trash service -- check with your hauler or community manager.

To add our recycling/trash collection schedule changes directly to your electronic calendar, subscribe to this link.

Shady Grove Processing Facility and Transfer Station

The yard trim disposal fee at the Transfer Station is changing, effective July 1, 2014. See yard trim fee details.

Transfer Station location, hours and other details

• Friday, July 4, 2014: Entire facility closed.
• Saturday, July 5, 2014: Open with normal hours.
• Sunday, July 6, 2014: Open with normal hours.

Poolesville Beauty Spot

Beauty Spot location, hours and other details

• Saturday, July 5, 2014: Open with normal hours.
• Sunday, July 6, 2014: Open with normal hours.

Recycling refrigerators: refrigerant removal not required

Refrigerators in Transfer Station's scrap metal drop-off area

Has your refrigerator stopped chilling? Your dehumidifier stopped removing humidity? Your air conditioner stopped keeping you cool?

We accept these large appliances -- and more -- as scrap metal for recycling.

If you receive recycling service from Montgomery County, you may request a curbside scrap metal collection for your no-longer-needed or no-longer-working appliances.

We also accept scrap metal directly at our Shady Grove Processing Facility and Transfer Station.

If your large appliances contain refrigerants, you do not need to remove the them before you set the appliances out for curbside collection or deliver them to us.We have a contractor who comes by to remove refrigerants.

When you bring refrigerant-containing items to us, here are two important tips from the Transfer Station staff:

1. Please take care in unloading them so that you avoid breaking open the cooling system. 
2. Drop them off in the first scrap metal bay (where you see refrigerators organized in an orderly line), and not in the bays where all of the metal is just in a pile

Recycle your election lawn signs after voting is over

Today is Election Day!  Visit the Montgomery County, Maryland, Board of Elections for voting details, and to view election returns.

Recycling your sample ballot, newsprint voting guides, and brochures and postcards you might have received from candidates and organizations is simple: just add them to your other paper recyclables.

However, what about any lawn signs you might have?  Here is a little guide to disposing of those:

Wire sign frames and holders
Bring sign frames and holders to the scrap metal drop-off area at the Shady Grove Processing Facility and Transfer Station.  Sorry, we do not accept wire items in our curbside blue bin recycling program.

Corrugated plastic signs
We do not accept corrugated plastic signs in our recycling programs.  Perhaps you might be able to reuse them.  For example, I recently used a scrap piece of corrugated plastic to make a rigid bottom for a cloth shopping bag.  If you do not have other uses for this sign material, please put it into your regular trash.

Film plastic signs
Film plastic signs look a lot like plastic bags.  However, please do not add them to plastic bag recycling bins, as they may be made of different resins than bags!  As with rigid corrugated plastic signs, please reuse film plastic signs, or place them into your regular household trash.

Cardboard signs
Please add cardboard signs without a plastic coating to your other paper recyclables. However, if the signs are coated with plastic film, please place them into your regular trash.

What other election support materials would you like to dispose?  Let us know, and we'll share the answers back here.

Worn recycling bins are easy to replace - Intern report

My name is Thomas, and if you have noticed someone looking through your recycling this month, that would be me. Well, I hope so at least.

The Division of Solid Waste Services is doing a recycling survey for the month of June 2014. I go out 5 days a week with a Field Staffer from the Division and look at what you have set out for recycling. It is nothing to be concerned about—we are just gathering data to help us improve our programs.

As an intern from outside Montgomery County, and outside of Maryland, the Division’s recycling program is entirely new to me. So, I spent some time studying the "Recycling Basics" flyer to get myself acquainted with the dual stream method. I have been impressed by how many households recycle.

Although, some of you have some pretty beaten up bins:

Cracked and taped recycling bin (oops! no plastic bags, please!)

Like really bad:

An even more cracked recycling bin

The fix to this is easy! You may request a new bin online, or by calling the Montgomery County Customer Service Center at 311 (or 240-777-0311; TTY: 301-251-4850).

Some of you like to fill your bins up. Like all the way up:

Overflowing recycling bins

That’s great! But if you ever want another bin, all you need to do is place an online order, or call 311!

Until my next report,

-Thomas, Intern

Changed yard waste disposal fee at Transfer Station, effective July 1, 2014

Starting July 1, 2014, our fees for yard waste loads delivered to the Shady Grove Processing Facility and Transfer Station will be the following. All other fees remain the same.

If you deliver this amount of RESIDENTIAL or COMMERCIAL yard waste	Your fee will be
Less than 500 pounds	No charge
500 pounds or more	$46.00/ton

As of July 1, 2014:

• All yard waste loads likely to weigh 500 pounds or more must enter through the Shady Grove Road entrance, and go over the truck scales. This entrance is open Monday through Saturday, 7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
• Yard waste loads weighing 500 pounds or more cannot be delivered weekday evenings (5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.) or any time on Sundays.

See full fee schedule for the Shady Grove Transfer Station and Processing Facility.

How do I recycle trophies and award plaques?

A resident recently asked how to recycle trophies. We do not accept trophies for recycling. However, these items are good candidates for reuse, which is even better!

A terrific group of volunteer program managers gave us some reuse tips for trophies and award plaques a while back. These included:

• Here's a possible use: Activity Directors in nursing homes and assisted livings sometimes have "Senior Olympic" programs for their residents, and I imagine the creative ones would love to award the participants with trophies - imagine the delight for a senior, to have a real trophy among the treasures in their room! What a self-esteem boost that would be!
  
• Scout troops often sponsor regatta and matchbox derbies... Many times they are looking for old trophies that they can refurbish so there can be prizes for everyone.
  
• I used to recycle old trophies and plaques for new volunteer awards (just had new engraving done) when I worked for a nonprofit group that annually gave out volunteer appreciation recognition.

What other suggestions would you add?

Use our "How do I recycle/dispose of..." lookup tool

Memorial Day 2014 - modified recycling and trash collection schedule

Sign up for our Holiday Reminder email and text messages

Memorial Day: Monday, May 26, 2014: No County-provided collection services will occur on this day. After the holiday, all County-provided recycling and trash collections will slide, and be one day later than normal.

If your collection day is	Your collection day this week is
Monday	Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Tuesday	Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Wednesday	Thursday, May 29, 2014
Thursday	Friday, May 30, 2014
Friday	Saturday, May 31, 2014

If you have questions or concerns about your County-provided collection, please call the Montgomery County Customer Service Center (MC311) at 311 (out-of-County: 240-777-0311, TTY: 301-251-4850).

If you (or your community) have a private contract for your trash collection, or if you live in a municipality, our schedule announcements may not apply to your trash service -- check with your hauler or community manager.

To add our recycling/trash collection schedule changes directly to your electronic calendar, subscribe to this link.

Shady Grove Processing Facility and Transfer Station

Transfer Station location, hours and other details

• Saturday, May 24, 2014: Open with normal hours.
• Sunday, May 25, 2014: Open with normal hours.
• Monday, May 26, 2014: Entire facility closed.

Poolesville Beauty Spot

Beauty Spot location, hours and other details

• Saturday, May 24, 2014: Open with normal hours.
• Sunday, May 25, 2014: Open with normal hours.

This week is Recycling Awareness Week 2014

May 19 to 23, 2014, is Recycling Awareness Week 2014 in Montgomery County!

During this week, we're holding 13 events designed to focus attention on exceptional recycling efforts underway in the County. Staff will present the "Magic of Recycling" show to twelve private schools to motivate students and staff to continue (and increase) their recycling efforts at school, at home, everywhere. The week's highlight is the Recycling Achievement Recognition Ceremony on Wednesday, May 21. At this ceremony, 10 individuals, 20 multi-family properties/residents and 50 businesses/organizations will be recognized for their recycling achievements.

We'll post the list of Award winners to our website tomorrow afternoon.

Yard trim tip: keep length to 4 feet

Collections Manager Joe recently spotted this bag of yard trim at a curb.

The trimmed branches were very neatly and carefully bundled in a paper yard trim bag, per our specifications.

Each piece was less than 4 inches in diameter, meeting another of our yard trim requirements.

But, oh, the length! These elegant branches were easily 12 to 15 feet long, well in excess of our 4-foot length limit for yard trim.

Unlike the trucks used by tree companies, those used by our contractors for yard trim collections do not have chippers. Therefore, branches residents set out for yard trim must be able to fit into the truck hopper as-is.

To help collection crews be able to take the branches you set out at the curb for them, please prepare branches to meet all of our requirements.

See our detailed yard trim requirements and tips.

Have a question about preparing items for collection? We're happy to help!

How to recycle your lawn mower in Montgomery County, Maryland

Lawn mower at the Transfer Station's scrap metal drop-off.

With Spring here - finally! - the grass is growing, and... we're hearing that some of your lawn mowers are no longer fit for service.

How can you recycle your old lawn mower?

If you receive Montgomery County-provided recycling service, recycling your mower is as simple as setting it out at the curb for a scrap metal pickup. Here are the steps:

1. Submit your scrap metal pickup request online or call 311 (or 240-777-0311; TTY: 301-251-4850).
2. Empty your mower of all fuel and oil fluids. 
3. Remove batteries (if applicable).
4. Set your mower out at the curb by 7 a.m. on your recycling collection day.

Have trimmers / weed whackers or other similar lawn and garden tools? Recycle them the same way as lawn mowers. Unfortunately, we cannot accept riding mowers in our curbside collection program.

To check whether you have County-provided recycling service, use our Collection Day Lookup.

Thanks to Transfer Station staffer Andy for the photo!

See more information about scrap metal recycling in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Poolesville Beauty Spot closed, Sunday, April 20, 2014

This weekend's schedule for the Poolesville Beauty Spot is:

• Saturday, April 19, 2014: open with normal hours, 7:00 am to 1:00 pm.
• Sunday, April 20, 2014: closed

The Shady Grove Transfer Station and Processing Facility will be open with normal hours on both Saturday and Sunday.

Operating Status for March 17, 2014

Sign up for our operating status updates by email or text message.

Because of snow, Montgomery County-provided recycling and trash collections begin at 10 a.m. today, March 17, 2014. If a street is not passable today, the crew will service it on Tuesday, March 18, 2014.

Where there are snow banks and parked cars, please place your bins, cans, and carts so that crews see them easily from the street.

If you have any questions or concerns about your County-provided collection, please call the Montgomery County Customer Service Center at 311 (out-of-County: 240-777-0311, TTY: 301-251-4850).

If you (or your community) have a private contract for your trash collection, or if you live in a municipality, our schedule announcements may not apply to your trash service -- check with your hauler or community manager.

Do you have a fire hydrant near your home? Please help our Fire and Rescue colleagues by taking a few moments to clear the hydrant of snow.

Check out our spring cleaning resources

Are you as ready to move on from this past winter as we are? Welcome, Spring!

Spring cleaning, on the other hand, may be less exciting. We have resources to ease the process for you. Here are some ideas for reusing, recycling, and discarding things you may no longer need.

Keep our "How to recycle/dispose..." tool bookmarked on your mobile device. Put keywords into this app-like feature to quickly find answers about what to put where.

Medications

The next Prescription Drug Take Back Day is scheduled for April 26, 2014. Area locations have not yet been announced, but you can already put a save-the-date note in your calendar now. We’ll be posting updates as we get them. Or, use our instructions for disposing of medicine in your trash.

Cleaners, pesticide, herbicides, and other home and garden chemicals

Our Household Hazardous Waste drop-off at the Shady Grove Transfer Station is open daily.

Wondering whether something needs hazardous waste disposal? Hazardous materials have these properties:

• reactive
• ignitable
• combustible
• toxic, and/or
• corrosive

Items in usable condition

Maybe you have unwanted or unneeded items that are still in usable condition. Hop over to our Use It Again Guide for referrals to organizations that would be happy to receive your clothing, household goods, furniture, and more.

To check an item's condition, ask yourself whether you'd give it to a friend.

Confidential papers

We are offering several community paper shredding events again this season.We will update our calendar as dates and locations are confirmed.

Large metal items

If you receive Montgomery County-provided recycling service, call on our curbside scrap metal collection program for pickups of large metal items, such as appliances, grills, lawnmowers, etc. Simply request the collection, and get your metal items out to the curb by 7 a.m. on your collection day. We'll take care of the rest.

Yard clean-ups

Our yard trim collections for leaves, grass, and brush are year-round. Bag or bundle those branches snapped off by ice and snow, and we'll turn them into mulch.
We also have instructions for handling oversize yard trim that's too large for our curbside collections.

Trash

If you receive County-provided trash service, you may request up to 5 bulk trash pickups from us per calendar year. If you place your request online, you can even clean right up until the last minute (well, up to midnight) before submitting it.

Have an item we didn't address? Ask us about it in the comments.

Happy Spring!

Recycling/Trash collections slide one day during week of March 3, 2014

Sign up for our operating status updates by email or text message.

Because of today's snow, all Montgomery County-provided recycling and trash collections will slide this week, and be one day later than normal.

We expect snowy and icy road conditions tomorrow morning, so our trucks may run a bit behind their normal schedule. If a street is not passable in the morning, the crew will attempt it again at the end of the day. Streets remaining unplowed by late Tuesday will be serviced first-thing on Wednesday morning. By the end of the day on Wednesday, we expect all Monday and Tuesday routes to be complete.

Please have your items out at the curb for collection by 7 a.m. Where there are snow banks and parked cars, please place your bins, cans, and carts so that crews see them easily from the street.

UPDATE: The Shady Grove Transfer Station plans to open at 7 a.m. tomorrow. If treatments are needed for overnight icing, minor delays are possible.

If your collection day is	Your collection day this week is
Monday	Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Tuesday	Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Wednesday	Thursday, March 6, 2014
Thursday	Friday, March 7, 2014
Friday	Saturday, March 8, 2014

If you have any questions or concerns about your County-provided collection, please call the Montgomery County Customer Service Center at 311 (out-of-County: 240-777-0311, TTY: 301-251-4850).

If you (or your community) have a private contract for your trash collection, or if you live in a municipality, our schedule announcements may not apply to your trash service -- check with your hauler or community manager.

Do you have a fire hydrant near your home? Please help our Fire and Rescue colleagues by taking a few moments to clear the hydrant of snow.