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Landfills are a necessary evil. They take up good land and can cause myriad problems. Although we have to have some place to put the refuse, filling them up too quickly means more landfills and no one wants that. What can we do?
Recycle. Find a way to reuse the stuff instead of tossing it.
Luckily, recycling just got a bit easier in Mad River Township, with the opening of a convenient new Recycling Center at 7952 Dayton-Springfield Road. Talk about perfect timing.
Up to now our recycling has been minimal.
There is a paper recycling bin at Greenon High School, but it takes only paper, magazines, newspapers, and catalogs. There was no place to take cardboard or phone books that didn’t require a drive into Springfield. On the positive side, the paper is recycled and the school gets a certain amount of money per ton. I’ll probably still drop my papers off here to help this fund raiser. And I know there are other big green Abitibi Paper Retriever bins in this area. Keep an eye out for one closer to you.
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We’ve also recycled our aluminum cans by dropping them off in the trailer behind the Enon Fire Station. This trailer is provided by Miami Valley Firefighters and sponsored by Franklin Iron and Metal. Proceeds from the sale of the aluminum goes to help burn victims. This has always seemed like a great idea to me.
The new Recycling Center is totally free and open during daylight hours. Don’t let the 7952 Dayton-Springfield Road address confuse you. You can see it from Dayton-Springfield Road, but the entrance is actually off Snider Road next to the railroad tracks. The bins are conveniently located in the paved parking lot behind the township building. You can even pull up right next to the bins. How much easier can it get?
The largest bin is for cardboard only. Do not put Styrofoam peanuts or packing in this bin. Cardboard only.
There are three slightly smaller bins for a variety of items. Check the labeling of the bins before dropping off. One takes paper , pizza boxes, magazines, catalogs and phonebooks. I am pleased to find a place for the phonebooks.
Another bin holds glass bottles and jars of any color. Plastic bottles and jugs, aluminum cans, aerosol cans, tin cans, flattened cereal boxes, etc. Clean cartons for milk, juice, soy milk, and egg substitute will also be accepted.
It is important to rinse out jars, bottles, and all containers. That means no dried up pizza in the pizza boxes or sour milk residue in the jugs.
Items should be loose and not be in plastic bags. This is not the place to leave plastic bags.
This recycling center does have some limitations on what it will take. There is a list of non-accepted items posted.
However, on their website, the solid waste district has a list of places to take items like yard waste, plastic bags, batteries, electronics, paints, medicines, florescent bulbs, and tires. Visit www.32trash.org to see a detailed list of where to take items you cannot take to the recycling center.
The good folks at the Specialty Recycling Center at 1602 West Main Street in Springfield can also help you figure out what to do with items they cannot handle. They are open Thursdays from 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. and from 9 a.m. to noon the first Saturday of each month. You can call ahead to check if they will accept items you have to discard at 937-521-2020.
After looking over that list I was amazed at how many recycling opportunities we have in this area . Some local businesses are getting involved. Taking advantage of these will make our landfills last longer and save trees.
Last week’s Earth Day was different from the first one I remember in college. When Earth Day was started, recycling and cleaning up trash were its biggest goals. We all worked together on it.
I hope this new recycling center will help us all work together again to keep our communities beautiful.
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