Welcome to Recycling Matters, a monthly e-mail update on recycling in Lexington County!

Solid Waste Management (SWM) Closings for July 4
On Friday, July 4, the Lexington County Landfill, all 12 Collection and Recycling Centers, and SWM’s administrative offices will be closed. For more information, contact Lexington County SWM at 785-3325.

Residential curbside collection in the unincorporated areas of Lexington County will not occur on Friday, July 4; those residences regularly served on Friday will be picked up on Saturday, July 5. For additional information, please contact your provider directly : Johnson’s Garbage Service, 754-5537; Southland Sanitation, 256-7276. 
 

Transform Your Trash Summer Reading Art Contest

The Lexington County Main Library is celebrating their summer reading theme - Catch the Reading Bug @ Your Library - with a recycled art contest! Students are asked to create a bug-themed freestanding sculpture made of at least 50% recycled materials and drop them off at the Main Library by August 3. Entries should be no larger than 3′ by 3′ feet. For additional information, contact Lexington County Main Library Youth Services at 785-2630.

Be on the Lookout for “Recycle Lexington County” Ads

As part of a SC DHEC Office of Solid Waste Reduction and Recycling grant, Lexington County Solid Waste Management is running a weekly quarter-page recycling ad in the Lexington County Chronicle June 12 through July 10. Attached is a copy of the ad for you to print out and/or share with others.  

It Has a Recycling Symbol, So Why Can’t I Recycle It?
Lexington County residents can recycle all plastic bottles, jugs and jars, regardless of the number on the bottom. But why can’t you recycle other plastic items since they have the recycling symbol on them? In the case of plastic, the recycling symbol is actually a little misleading. Although the presence of the symbol implies that the plastic item is recyclable, the symbol is actually only intended to identify the plastic resin from which the item was made. Recyclability is ultimately determined by markets for the plastics, which right now, is only bottles, jugs and jars. Other plastics should be reused when possible and/or disposed of in your household garbage. 

Solid Waste Doesn’t Take a Summer Vacation

Do your kids think that trash just disappears once placed at the curb or taken to one of our Collection and Recycling Centers? Not if they’ve been to a landfill. Consider scheduling a tour of our landfill and transfer station this summer. Your kids will learn that trash doesn’t just disappear, as well as the importance of recycling economically and environmentally. We prefer to do summer tours on Thursday mornings, before it gets too hot, and preferably for groups of 5 to 15. Contact Mary Pat Baldauf at 785-3340 for more information. Mary Pat is also available for summer presentations to camps, Bible schools, civic/social clubs and other organizations.

Local Lawn Mower Exchange Receives National Award
The 2007 Richland-Lexington Lawn Mower Exchange, a partnership program that offered electric lawn mowers at a reduced price, recently received a 2008 Achievement Award from the National Association of Counties. Over 150 gas mowers were exchanged during the event, resulting in emission reductions of 7 tons per year for carbon, and 14 tons per year for volatile organic compounds (a precursor to ozone). Discounted Neutron battery powered mowers are still available; click here for details. Program partners include Lexington County, Richland County, the City of Columbia, SC DHEC and Keep the Midlands Beautiful .
  

Get Your Green Hour

The South Carolina Wildlife Federation (SCWF) is introducing the Green Hour Program - designed to get kids outside, and away from electronics, for at least 1 hour every day. The SCWF has developed a Green Hour Passport for kids to track 20 hours spent outside, and then return it to the SCWF for special prizes!  For more information and top print your Green Hour Passports, visit SCWF’s Web site.

For more information on recycling in Lexington County, visit the Lexington County Solid Waste Management/Recycling Web site.  

Save Gas This Summer

Send Us Your Scrap
We’ll not only put it to good use, we’ll also send you a free TRASHformation as our way of saying thanks!

Send us any of the following items and receive free one pair of Keeping Tabs earrings, color of your choice, or a three-pack of ReWrites, which we’ll select. Check back often; our list changes on a regular basis.

Record Albums, 10-Inch/78 rpm: These are records from the fifities and earlier and are smaller than the ones we had in the 70s and 80s. I won’t be playing them, so it doesn’t matter if they’re scratched!

Old Computer Keyboards: And once I get the parts I need, I’ll even recycle them!
Metal Twist-Off Lids: The ones from glass beverage bottles of Snapple, Yoohoo, Ben and Jerry’s Milkshakes and Starbucks Frappucino.

Depleted Gift Cards: The plastic ones from Starbucks and other store chains.

Colored Pop Tabs: We get plenty of silver ones; we’re looking for green, blue, purple, orange and red. Most commonly found on energy drinks and organic sodas.

If you have anything else you think is cool and aren’t inspired to do anything with it,  send us picture (jpg, please) via e-mail. If we can make it into something else, we’ll gladly take it off your hands and send you a TRASHformation as our way of saying thanks.To submit your scrap, first complete the Send Your Scrap form and then mail your shipment to TRASHformations, PO Box 7064, Columbia, SC, 29202. If you’re in the Midlands area and want to drop off instead of mailing, just indicate that on the form; we’ll contact you to make arrangements. http://www.trashformations.com/home.html

1. If you’re a teacher, register today, and send the invitation to other teachers in your school, district and throughout SC.
2. If you have children in school, please forward this e-mail to their teachers.
3. If you know of any non-traditional educators who may be interested - Clemson Extension agents, non-profit environmental organization educators, home schoolers - please send them this e-mail, as well.

The State   http://www.thestate.com/business/story/377059.html

THIS SATURDAY - April 5th – One Wild Ride, Lexington – Ride your motorcycle to benefit SCWF!(link)

Purchase Okefenokee Joe’s “Disappearing Faces” CD – music about our endangered species. Proceeds donated to SCWF! (link)

Celebrate Earth Day, April 22nd, by getting your Backyard Wildlife Habitat certified! Details about Backyard Habitats: (link)How to get certified: (link)

National Wildlife Week, April 19-27

The Nature Quest™ Wildlife Watch is appropriate for all individuals and groups of all types, from children, parents and caregivers, and grandparents to schools, outdoor and sporting groups and others. Interested participants can download a list of wildlife and plants to observe in their state. After they finish watching for wildlife, they can share their sightings online. Download your watch list, find out what others are seeing, and chat with other watchers by visiting www.nwf.org/watch

High School Students Apply NOW for Camp Wildwood – June 22-28, York County http://www.wildwoodfamily.org

SCWF Taking Lead on Protecting our Rivers and Streams (link)

Get your Camera Ready for the 2008 SCWF Photo Contest! Categories include: Carolina Critters, Scenes of South Carolina, and Kids in Nature (new category!) (link) www.scwf.org

You’ve probably heard about the global warming song and dance: rising temperatures, melting ice caps and rising sea levels in the near future. But Earth’s changing climate is already wreaking havoc in some very weird ways. So gird yourself for such strange effects as savage wildfires, 25-mile long icebergs, disappearing lakes, freak allergies, and the threat of long-gone diseases re-emerging.

While it’s melting glaciers and creating more intense hurricanes, global warming also seems to be heating up forest fires in the United States. In western states over the past few decades, more wildfires have blazed across the countryside, burning more area for longer periods of time. Scientists have correlated the rampant blazes with warmer temperatures and earlier snowmelt. When spring arrives early and triggers an earlier snow-melt, forest areas become drier and stay so for longer, increasing the chance that they might ignite.

On Saturday, April 5, Intel is coordinating an electronics recycling event at 100 center Point Circle in Columbia from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The event will be held at the parking lot of the Intel office at 100 Center Point Circle, Columbia, SC 29210. It is near the St. Andrews Rd exit off of I-26, near the I-20/I-26 interchange, and there will be signs to direct cars from the St. Andrews exit to the event.

Accepted electronics include computers, monitors, CRT’s, TV’s, printers, scanners, keyboards, mice, VCR’s, terminals, cables, fax machines, radios, modems, telephones, copiers, typewriters, stereo equipment, and cell phones.

Although the event is free, a $5 donation is requested, and all donations will be given to Harvest Hope Food Bank. 

Around the House

Block drafts Try the ribbon test: Hold a piece of ribbon near each door and window. If the ribbon flutters, you’ve got an energy-wasting air leak. Adding weatherstripping can be a simple, inexpensive fix.

Shrink your laundry pile “I always remind my children to hang up their bath towels to dry so they can use them more than once,” says Susan Southerland, a mother of three in Orlando, Florida. Less laundry means less time running the washer and dryer.

Pull the plug Your computer, TV, stereo and other electronics continue to draw electricity even when they’re turned off. The wasted energy is equivalent to a 100-watt lightbulb that is always on. Switch to power strips so that you can cut the current completely when devices aren’t in use.

Support local farmers By purchasing fruits and veggies from local farmers, you not only have a better idea where your food comes from (and can ask about pesticides and other chemicals you want to avoid), you’ll also help reduce the energy that’s required to transport food across the country.

On the Go

Walk the walk Most of us automatically hop into the car even for short trips, but running errands on foot is one of the best things you can do for the earth. “Anytime you don’t have to burn fossil fuel, we’re all better off,” says Terry Link, director of the Office of Campus Sustainability at Michigan State University in East Lansing. If your destination is too far to hoof it, carpool with another mom or consolidate your errands.

Follow the 15-second rule If you do take your car, don’t let it idle while waiting for school or practice to let out. “If you’re waiting for more than 15 seconds, turn off the engine. Otherwise, you’re wasting fuel,” says Link. Also, skip the warmup. Your car doesn’t need it—it’s ready to go when you are.

Shop smart At the market, opt for one large container of your family’s favorite munchies instead of smaller bags or boxes. “If just one out of 10 products you bought had little or no packaging, it would eliminate more than 50 pounds of waste per household a year,” says Elizabeth Rogers, coauthor of The Green Book: The Everyday Guide to Saving the Planet One Simple Step at a Time.

Forgo ATM receipts Do Mother Nature a favor and just say no. If every American skipped cash machine receipts, it would save a roll of paper more than two billion feet long and reduce one of the top sources of litter on the planet, according to Rogers.

Be a take-your-own-bag lady When Michele Butler of Oviedo, Florida, and her 12-year-old son, Griffon, hit the supermarket, they take along cloth bags for toting groceries home. If you must get a disposable bag at the store, opt for paper over plastic.

Pack a waste-free lunch Single servings and individually wrapped foods are convenient, but discarded packaging is definitely not good for the environment. When making your child’s lunch to go, include a reusable drink container, silverware and a cloth napkin instead of disposable items, suggests Savedge. In place of plastic wrap or foil, stash sandwiches in a reusable container or wrapper, like the Wrap-N-Mat (wrap-n-mat.com).

Nix the DIY car washes Surprisingly, commercial car washes are a more earth-friendly option than sudsing up your SUV in the driveway. The pros use less water per wash and often reuse rinse water.

Family Fun

Get crafty Empty toilet paper rolls, used printer paper, scraps of colorful fabric—instead of thinking of them as trash, consider these castoffs fodder for kids’ art projects. Designate a bin to collect “supplies” as you find them. Not only will you keep potential garbage out of the landfill, you’ll also fire up your child’s creativity by letting him cut, paste and color to his heart’s content.

Announce fêtes the eco-friendly way Hosting a Memorial Day barbecue or a birthday bash for your child? Save trees by sending your guests electronic invitations (available at sites such as evite.com) instead of paper ones.

Give greener gifts Instead of purchasing another “thing,” present friends and family members with experiences such as a concert or a cooking class, homemade gifts like baked goods or a donation in their name to a pro-environment cause. Encourage grandparents and others to think this way when your child’s birthday rolls around. Most will be happy to put money toward a music class, for example, rather than another toy.

Knock down napkin usage The next time you get a snack at your child’s baseball game or during an outing to the zoo, pay attention to the number of paper napkins you grab—and take one less. “If everyone in the U.S. used one fewer napkin a day, we could save more than a billion pounds of napkins from the landfill each year,” says Rogers.

Set up a swap Is your child tired of her toys or your teen bored with his DVD or video game collection? Instead of hitting the mall, encourage your children to temporarily trade with pals. Not only will they get to try out a friend’s stash, but their own stuff will seem fresh when they get it back.

Just For Kids

Assign your child to “light patrol” Let her be the one to make sure all the lights are off before the family goes out, suggests Savedge.

Recruit junior recyclers Ask your kids to label “Newspapers,” “Cardboard,” etc.) and decorate boxes for recycling.

Make donating a family affair  “Even a young child can understand when you say, ‘Let’s pick three or four toys to give away because we have so many,’” says Savedge. If he needs coaxing, point out that his old toys will be used by another child who doesn’t have any.

Empower your kids  Encourage them to check out Act Green, an educational website that teaches children 100 ways to go green at home, at school and in their community. Visit scholastic.com/actgreen

Lexington County Solid Waste Management’s new website can now be accessed at www.lex-co.com/solidwaste.html.  The site includes everything from days and hours of operation, to franchise complaint forms and landfill credit applications.

March 20 - City of Columbia Green Business Boot Camp: 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Village at Sandhills.  Click here to register.  Cost is $25.  For information on this and other Climate Protection Action Campaign activities, please call (803) 545-3780.

March 27 - How Green is Your Garden, the South Carolina Midlands Master Gardener Association 18th Annual Spring Symposium. 8:00 am - 6:00 pm at the Columbia Conference Center. $55 for SCMMGA members and $65 for nonmembers. Click here for more information and to register.April 17 - Runaway Runway: A Fashion Show of Recycled Materials. 6:00 pm at the Columbia Museum of Art. Submit a garment made from recycled materials. Entrants must sign up by April 4 and attend dress rehearsal on April 15 at 6:00 pm. To enter, or for more information, call Rhett Anders at 803-238-5684 or e-mail.

Telephone Book Recycling ends March 15

Save valuable, natural resources and landfill space by recycling your old telephone books before March 15!  For the complete list of drop off locations, click here. 

Telephone Book Recycling is sponsored by AT&T’s The Real Yellow Pages, The Talking Phone Book, Sonoco Recycling and Waste Management.

March 1 - May 1
 KMB encourages groups in Richland and Lexington counties to participate in the 2008 Great American Cleanup: Midlands Makeover Challenge by conducting projects that promote a safer, cleaner and more beautiful community. 

Projects may include, but are not limited to: tree planting, community gardens, litter cleanups, dumpsite cleanups, recycling projects, graffiti eradication and neighborhood cleanups. 

KMB will award cash prizes in the following categories:

• Most Creative and Innovative Project
• Biggest Transformation and Community Impact
• Best Use of Volunteers
• Columbia Council of Neighborhoods

For Midlands Makeover project guidelines and more information, click here. 

The Great American Cleanup: Midlands Makeover is sponsored locally by New 92 Country and the Columbia Council of Neighborhoods.