Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday - modified schedules

Montgomery County-provided recycling and trash collections

Monday, January 21, 2008 - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday - is a recycling and trash collection holiday. After the holiday, all County-provided recycling and trash collections will be one day later than normal during the week of January 21.

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.

Shady Grove Transfer Station

• closed: Monday, January 21, 2008
• reopens: Tuesday, January 22, 2008
• Transfer Station hours and other details

From pretty Christmas trees to marvelous mulch

What happens to your Christmas tree after it is whisked away from your curb for recycling?

Yard trim trucks carrying leaves, grass, and brush -- and Christmas trees! -- enter the Solid Waste Transfer Station through its Truck Entrance.

After weighing in on the scales, the trucks head over to the Yard Trim area.

Look at that big pile of yard trim and trees! See those paper yard trim bags? They will be ground up right along with their contents.

Here is the grinder at work.

The pile of yard trim and trees is in the foreground of this photo; the resulting mulch pile is in the background. With the remainder of the autumn leaves, and now the Christmas trees, in the mix, January and February are excellent times to come and take home some of our mulch.

How do I dispose of an artificial Christmas tree?

A Happy New Year to all of you!

From a Live Help chat to us:

What is the prescribed way to dispose of an old artificle / fake metal Christmas tree? Thanks.

Actually, thank you for the opportunity to add to the information on our Christmas tree recycling web page.

Here is the information I have added to the Christmas tree page...

If you have Montgomery County-provided trash collection service

If you have Montgomery County-provided trash service, please request a bulk trash pickup for your artificial Christmas tree at www.montgomerycountymd.gov/bulktrash or 240-777-6410.

If you have privately-provided trash service

If you have privately-provided trash service because you or your homeowners' association have direct contract with a company, please check with your collection company for instructions.

If your artificial tree is still in usable condition

If your artificial Christmas tree is still in usable condition, consider offering it to a fellow community member on your local Freecycle Network group.

Beauty Spots closed December 29 + 30, 2007

The Damascus and Poolesville Beauty Spots will be closed this weekend, December 29 + 30, 2007. (This is a change from the previously announced schedule.)

Can I recycle most wrapping paper?

December 3, 2010: updated paper recycling information

From our mailbag:

Hello! Can I recycle most wrapping paper?

Thank you, D., for this question! The answer is yes.

Please add wrapping paper to your other paper recyclables. There are a few exceptions: if the paper is foil- or plastic-coated, please put it into the trash (or, reuse it, if it's still in good condition). Some wrapping "paper" is actually a thin plastic film; we cannot accept this for recycling either.

Most types of wrapping paper can be recycled along with your other types of recyclable mixed paper. There is an exception: foil wrapping paper, please put it into the trash (or, reuse it, if it's still in good condition). Some wrapping is actually not paper but a thin plastic film; we cannot accept this for recycling either.

What about ribbons and tape? Please remove the ribbons and other decorations from your wrapping paper before adding it to your paper collection. Bits of tape on the paper are fine -- you do not need to remove them.

Our Winter 2007 Recycletter is available

I have just posted the Winter 2007 Recycletter to our website. The Recycletter is published quarterly by our Recycling Volunteer Program.

Interested in joining the Recycling Volunteer Program? Mark your calendars now to save the date for one of these upcoming training sessions:

• Thursday, January 17, 2008, 6 pm to 9 pm
• Thursday, March 27, 2008, 6 pm to 9 pm
• Saturday, March 29, 2008 10 am to 1 pm

We invite all volunteer - new and current - to an advanced training session on Thursday, April 3, 2008, 6 pm to 8 pm.
For registration details, I'll purposely refer you to the Recycletter itself!

No plastics bags, please!

While a picture tells a thousand words, showing the actual item is even more effective!

Using plastic bags and putting them into recycling containers labeled for commingled materials (aluminum cans and foil products, bi-metal steel/tin cans, glass bottles and jars, and plastic narrow-neck bottles) and mixed paper and cardboard is a common error. (While plastic grocery bags are recyclable, they typically are not acceptable in multi-family or single-family residential recycling programs. However, most local grocery stores in Montgomery County accept plastic shopping bags for recycling, so take them with you the next time you go grocery shopping.)

The program specialists in our multi-family recycling program visit apartments and condominiums daily, checking their recycling programs and efforts, and providing assistance to residents and property managers.

On a recent visit to a property in Bethesda, a program specialist found a plastic bag, emphatically labeled with "No!", to remind residents that these bags should not go into their recycling containers. Kudos to the property managers for displaying our recycling do's and don'ts poster (seen on the left; available in English and Spanish versions), and for supplementing the poster's information with an actual example!

How may you recycle your Christmas tree?

Simply set it out at the curb for collection on your recycling day, starting next Wednesday. Our Christmas tree recycling program will run from Wednesday, December 26, 2007 through Friday, February 1, 2008 for this holiday season. Gone are the days when you need to pack your dry, needle-shedding tree into your car for transport to your closest collection point!

Please give us only your tree -- no lights, no decorations, no wires, no tree stand, and no plastic tree bag. Why? We grind up the trees to create mulch. Larger metal items like tree stands are problems because they can damage the grinding equipment and also become safety hazards. The decorations, plastics, and the like become contaminants in the finished mulch.

Keep reading our blog -- a future post will show you our Christmas tree operations. Unfortunately, what we can't offer you online is the wonderful pine fragrance which accompanies the Christmas tree mulch-making! For that, you'll have to come to the Solid Waste Transfer Station yourself!

Our Veggie Oil Exchange makes it to Grist's "Ask Umbra" column

From our mailbag:

I don't know if you are familiar with this on-line advice column, but it is a feature of Grist. Recently your MoCo website got a mention!

I appreciate your note, M. Sure enough! In her December 3, 2007, Ask Umbra column about uses for old cooking oil, Grist's Umbra Fisk wrote:

"I also had a little luck on Craigslist and a surprising result when I put "donate used vegetable oil" into my search engine: the solid waste department for Montgomery County, Md., has an entire veggie oil exchange listing on their website. Zounds."

Thanks for finding us, Umbra, and for sharing the word about our Vegetable Oil Exchange with your readers!

How do I recycle toy boxes?

From our mailbag:

[The holiday reminder emails are] a great service. I just would like to suggest that next December you advise your subscribers on how to dispose of the cardboard/plastic boxes that many toys come wrapped in. This year, for example, I separated the paper and the plastic parts and put them out separately for recycling. Was this correct?

Thank you, TS, for your compliment about our holiday reminder email service, and for your question. Since it's December again, it's time to pull it out of the file in which I've been safely storing it.

Thank you also for correctly preparing the toy packaging in your household for recycling. To you Gentle Readers in similar situations this holiday season (or at any time), please:

• Pull out plastic bags, plastic ties, foam packing, desiccant packets, and other non-paper items from the box. Dispose of these plastic items (except for the bags) in your regular household trash; you can add the bags to the plastic bag collection at your local grocery store. What about plastic "windows" in toy boxes? You may leave these on the box when you give it to us for recycling.
  
• Put the empty cardboard boxes together with your other paper recyclables, for pickup on your recycling day.

Christmas Day and New Year's Day Holidays - modified schedules

Montgomery County-provided recycling and trash collections

Tuesday, December 25, 2007 - Christmas Day - is a recycling and trash collection holiday. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday collections will shift by one day.

Tuesday, January 1 - New Year's Day - is a also recycling and trash collection holiday. Again, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday collections will shift by one day.

Detailed holiday schedule and information

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.

Shady Grove Transfer Station

Transfer Station hours and other details

Christmas Day Holiday:

• Monday, December 24, 2007: will close at 5:00 p.m.
• Tuesday, December 25, 2007: closed
• Wednesday, December 26, 2007: will reopen with normal hours

New Year's Day Holiday:

• Monday, December 31, 2007: will close at 5:00 p.m.
• Tuesday, January 1, 2008: closed
• Wednesday, January 2, 2008: will reopen with normal hours

When will my leaves be picked up?

From our mailbag:

I live at [address removed] and still have not seen a [leaf] collection.

We in the Division of Solid Waste Services provide the weekly curbside yard trim collection; the leaf vacuuming is done by our sister agency, the Highway Operations Section.

Our colleagues in Highway Operations are posting leaf collection updates to their website to keep residents up-to-date about crews' progress.

In neighborhoods receiving leaf vacuuming, crews post signs a few days in advance of each leaf collection. Crews do their best to meet their planned schedules. However, Mother Nature can and does pose challenges to them. For example, yesterday's snow meant that some of the leafing equipment was put on "snow duty." And, when that snow melts, the wet leaves will be more difficult to vacuum than dry leaves.

How do I dispose of an old console television?

From our mailbag:

How do I dispose of an old console television?

We checked with our Transfer Station colleagues to see whether it would be accepted there for recycling. And, the answer is... yes, console televisions are accepted for recycling in our new television recycling program.

If you cannot transport the console television to the Transfer Station, and if you receive Montgomery County-provided trash service, then you may request a curbside bulk trash collection for this item. The tradeoff is that while the television would be collected at your curb, it would not be recycled.

Thanks for asking! Confirming the answer gave our Call Center staff and me the opportunity to expand our own knowledge. And, as a result of your question, I have updated our television page to include console televisions. So, dear readers, keep your questions coming!

What's all this litter around the trash I set out so neatly?!

The night before your collection day, you set your trash neatly at the curb to await collection. The next morning, or when you return home at the end of the next day... Ay! There are bits and pieces of your trash strewn all around! What happened?!

Many times, the culprits are... crows! One of my field colleagues reported to me that "the crows are back and making a lot of 'litter before collection'."

What's the solution?

"Containerizing" -- our term for using a rigid container with a tight-fitting lid -- your trash makes it a much greater challenge for crows to reach. And, this also helps keep out raccoons and other critters fond of "dumpster diving" in residential trash. Here are our requirements for trash containers.

Above all, please resist the temptation to simply set out your trash bags without a rigid plastic or metal container around them. It's awfully easy for an inquisitive beak or paw to tear holes into them, and then to start exploring the bags' contents...

One resource for learning more about living with crows is this Urban Crow Fact Sheet, published by the Humane Society of the United States.

Washingtonian Magazine rates us tops in recycling

The December 2007 issue of Washingtonian Magazine features its "Best of Washington" ratings. Here's an excerpt of what was written about us:

On most counts, it's easier to be green in Montgomery County than in any of the
area's other 13 jurisdictions. It has one of the country's top recycling rates
(amount of recyclables collected divided by trash generated), 43 percent, and
has strict rules on what must be recycled.

Thanks for the kind words!

Why shouldn't I locate my compost pile near my fence?

We recently mailed a flyer titled "Compost Happens" to single-family home residents. This mailing has generated lots of phone calls and emails from you to us. Thank you!

Having raked up lots and lots of leaves in and around my own yard over the past two days -- yes, they are finally falling! -- I want to address some of the questions I have fielded from you by phone and email as a result of our mailing.

Your flyer says that compost piles should be located "at least one foot away
from any fence". Why?

Following this recommendation can be a challenge, especially in a small yard. But, it's an important recommendation to heed. See, the industrious decomposers in your compost pile are not terribly picky. To them, a piece of dead wood is a piece of dead wood. Whether the wood is question is a twig you've raked up into the compost pile, or a fence post is of little consequence to them. Keeping a little distance between (wooden) fences and compost piles is therefore good practice. For this reason, it is also wise to avoid siting your compost pile right next to your house, garage, or shed.

Now, if your fence or structure is made from a non-decomposing material (recycled plastic, for example!), then there is no problem in putting your compost pile close to it.

How to dispose of oil from deep-frying your Thanksgiving turkey

Are you deep-frying a Thanksgiving turkey?

When you recycle the cans, bottles, and jars from your meal preparations, remember to add your fryer oil to that list! Please don't put the oil into your blue bin. :-) Instead, post an oil offer to our new Vegetable Oil Exchange.

Frying vegetables instead of turkey? Of course, your waste oil is heartily welcomed on the Exchange as well.

We celebrated America Recycles Day... with lots of enthusiasm from you!

We invited you... and you came to help us celebrate America Recycles Day last Saturday! Thank you to all who participated. In addition to the staff who worked on this event, we are grateful to our many volunteers, who collectively contributed hours of time in preparing for and then supporting the event's activities

Rocco, the Recycling Retriever, greeted visitors enthusiastically, with open arms.

We had bags of Leafgro available to folks who stopped at our display in the Town Square.


A staff member put the finishing touches on a display about recycling at apartments and condominiums.


Children industriously created works of art from a variety of "recycled" items.

Do you know what to recycle in Montgomery County? These two volunteers were ready to quiz event visitors!

Thursday, November 22, 2007 - Thanksgiving Day - modified schedule

Montgomery County-provided recycling and trash collections

Thursday, November 22, 2007 - Thanksgiving Day - is a recycling and trash collection holiday. Thursday and Friday collections will shift by one day.

Detailed holiday schedule and information

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.

Shady Grove Transfer Station

• UPDATE: will close Wednesday, November 21, 2007, at 5:00 p.m.
• closed: Thursday, November 22, 2007
• reopens: Friday, November 23, 2007
• Transfer Station hours and other details

Our recycling rate is 43.2% !

From the questions we receive, I know that folks wonder whether it really matters whether they save that can, bottle, or jar for recycling, whether they separate their large metal items for special collection, or whether they make the effort to reduce the amount of waste they generate

Our numbers are in for Fiscal Year 2007, and yes, those seemingly small actions really do matter. In fact, collectively they add up to our having recycled 43.2% of what we in Montgomery County discarded last year. Seen another way, we recycled just over 43 out of every 100 pounds we pitched. Thank you very much for your part in this success! (What's a Fiscal Year? In our case, it is the 12-month time period from July 1 through June 30.)



What goes into a recycling rate? In short, a lot! We've posted a summary of our Fiscal Year 2007 recycling rate calculations to our website. And, if you are curious about how that compares to previous years' rates, we have those posted as well.