There is a fever going around. I hope you catch it.
It is not something you get from a mosquito. This affliction is caught by recycling. Try it, you will like it.
As most of you know, the recycling drop-off centers throughout the county are available for recycling often-used household items, including newspapers (even the inserts), paper, magazines, light cardboard (food and product boxes), many types of plastics (bottles and containers), glass bottles, tin cans, aluminum cans and strong cardboard (it has a wavy middle layer).
We also have quarterly events to collect a variety of items that do not need to end up in landfills. These events provide extra relief for those with recycling fever. The funny thing about recycling is that once you start recycling, you just want to recycle more and more.
The quarterly Recycle It! Fairs collect items not suited for the drop-off centers, but often used around the house workplace. Our local partners, Goodwill Industries, Coastal Auto and Recycling, Liberty County Solid Waste, and local law enforcement, as well as the cities of Walthourville and Midway, make it possible to offer these events each quarter for your convenience.
This quarter’s Recycle It! Fair is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 1 p. m. Saturday. Our three fair locations make it easier to drop off a variety of items to be recycled or disposed of properly. The sites are:
• Liberty County Health Department, 1113 E. Oglethorpe Highway;
• Midway Police Department, 10490 E. Oglethorpe Highway in Midway; and
• Walthourville City Hall, 222 Busbee Drive.
Here is a list of items we can accept:
• Electronics — including computers, printers and toner cartridges, monitors, computer accessories, stereo equipment, televisions, cellphones and accessories. All hard drives will be wiped clean by Goodwill Industries.
• Household paint — as long as the cans are sealed well, are not rusted and are at least half full. If your cans are not in good condition, add cat litter or sand to the paint, let it completely dry, and then dispose of the cans in your regular garbage. We can only collect paint that is in acceptable condition for reuse at the Habitat ReStore, so please follow the above information.
• Light bulbs — both CFLs and fluorescent light. Check out the website on CFL’ for Energy Star (www.energystar.gov) for more information on these energy efficient lights.
• Automobile waste — used motor oil and antifreeze as well as car batteries. At the Midway and Walthourville sites, we can accept the batteries, but we can accept oil and antifreeze only in clean, disposable containers. Remember to always recycle motor oil and antifreeze as soon as possible. Never pour these items down a drain or a storm sewer or on the ground. They cause severe water pollution problems.
• Household batteries.
• Telephone books and large catalogs.
• Hardback books, paperbacks, and textbooks.
• Household goods, shoes and clothes — in clean, decent condition.
• Medicine — Prescriptions Take Back at all three locations for any old prescriptions and over-the-counter medications that you need to dispose of. Never flush them down the toilet. These types of items have a detrimental effect on our waterways and, consequently, on aquatic life and humans. We cannot accept hypodermic needles.
So, join us on May 7 to satisfy your fever or, if you have never recycled before, join us. Recycling is seriously contagious. To find out more about treating your recycling fever every day in your life, call Keep Liberty Beautiful at 880-4888, email mailto:klcb@coastalnow.net or go to www.keeplibertybeautiful.org .
Swida is the director of Keep Liberty Beautiful.