/ Meteorologist Matt Stevens
Did you think the next holiday after Veteran’s Day was Thanksgiving? Well, think again. It’s America Recycles Day on November 15th, sponsored by the organization “Keep America Beautiful.”
Kristen Lawton, Public Relations Officer for OCRRA (Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency), explains. “It’s an effort to help people think a little more about recycling in the month of November, and all year round of course. And they have a pledge, which is two parts. They as you, one, to familiarize yourself with what is recyclable in your area. And the second part is to recycle a little bit more.” You can find their pledge website here: Keep America Beautiful Pledge.
In general, Kristen tells me residents of Onondaga County are actually pretty good when it comes to recycling those items that typically go in a blue bin. But, she also tells me we could do a little better, especially when it comes to thinking outside of the box.
Lawton, speaking on behalf of OCRRA, directs our focus towards electronic waste. “OCRRA suggests thinking about items that don’t go in your blue bin, but can still be recycled. For example, electronic waste. So that means all your old TVs, computers, tablets, cell phones, anything that you’re not using, but you might be questioning, should I put this in the trash? And the answer is NO, you should not put it in the trash.
Rather, you should bring it to a drop off site like Metalico, on Thompson Rd. in Syracuse, free of charge. Mike Van Camp, Materials Manager for Metalico, talked to me about some common misconceptions he runs into regarding e-waste recycling.
“A lot of people feel, especially with their computers, that they can just throw them in the tin pile out back. Why can’t I do that? Why can’t I get paid for it? Well, because there’s components in there that shouldn’t go through the waste stream, and can be recycled and can be reused properly…like televisions, for instance. I mean, you’ve got all the glass, all the plastic, all that can be recycled. Why throw that in the waste stream?”
And keeping our waste stream free of recyclable e-waste is as easy as pulling up to a drop-off site, and dropping it off.
Questions about what gets recycled, and where to do it? Just head to OCRRA’s website, OCRRA.org
