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