Keeping it Green

AMERICA RECYCLES DAY

NOVEMBER 15, 2020

According to National Geographic, Americans send 64 tons of waste to landfills during their lifetime. That’s 246 million tons of waste each year. America Recycles Day aims to encourage Americans to purchase recycled products and recycle more.

Think just one person can’t make a difference? Lauren Singer developed a zero-waste lifestyle where she’s able to reduce, reuse and recycle everything she consumes. She’s got this down to a science — and is now able to fit all of the trash she’s produced within the last four years in a single mason jar. Her website proves that if everyone lived similarly, waste wouldn’t be nearly as much of a problem. http://www.trashisfortossers.com. Google zero waste living and get ideas!

Folks get frustrated that they can’t recycle everything they want to in Sanders County. Instead: 1. Let’s get cracking on recycling what we can here; 2. Let’s put our passion for recycling to the test by saving up other items to take to Missoula or Kalispell.

SANDERS COUNTY TAKES:

Clean, flattened corrugated cardboard. (no cereal box-types…that’s paper board)

Empty aluminum cans.

Rinsed out tin cans.

All metal.

Vehicle batteries.

Used Vehicle oil.

MISSOULA AND KALISPELL TAKE:

All of the above.

Plastics #1 and #2 (translucent only-no color plastic)

Paper (Newspaper, magazines, junk mail, office paper, cereal boxes, egg cartons, etc. Republic Services does not take catalogs w/the glued edge)

Used Electronics-Take to Republic Services & Pacific Recycling in Missoula.

OUR ANNUAL USED ELECTRONICS EVENT THIS YEAR BROUGHT IN OVER 5 TONS (11,186 pounds)!

(Please feel free to pat yourself on the back if you brought items in, and do it again next year! Our annual E-Waste event is usually in the summer, but was in September this year because of scheduling conflicts with the pandemic.)

~Sanders County Recycling Staff/

Nationaltoday.com