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Holiday 2008
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Vol 1, Issue 5
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Recycling
E-News
Recycling Information from Waukesha County
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Greetings!
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It is so hard to believe that we are already over a full week in to December! This year blew by faster than the drifting snow of late, but we are so thankful that you have chosen to share a small portion of that year with us. Have a safe and happy holiday season!
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3 Easy Ways to Cut Waste
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It's estimated that between Thanksgiving
and the New Year an extra 5 million tons of waste are generated
nationwide. The amount of ribbon alone thrown out each year adds up to
38,000 miles - enough to tie a bow around the earth! This year, consider taking 3 easy steps to reduce your holiday waste. - The Presents. This year, less is more. Give an experience rather than an item and you will be making less trash at the same time. Consider tickets to a play or museum, memberships to a park, or a gift certificate to a place the person frequents. These gifts are great for a wide array of reasons, including the fact that you are saving natural resources and the environmental impact of making and shipping a product. Also, you are supporting the local economy.
- The Wrapping. This is an easy place to save yourself a lot of money and natural resources. Reduce the use of these items by using reusable bags and containers. In our family, I have a large hat box for each individual in which I put their gift. At the end of the day, I take it home and store it for the next holiday. This also works out really well for me because as I buy gifts for people throughout the year, I always have a place to go with them! If you can't reduce -- reuse! Reuse pretty papers, ribbons, and bows for other wrapping if possible. Otherwise, create pretty text book covers, art projects, or future gift tags. My personal favorite use for damaged paper is to throw it through my shredder for use in my hat boxes!
- The Tree. If you use a live tree, contact your municipal office to see if it will be composted or chipped into mulch. If you need to purchase new lights for your tree be sure to check out LED's. They are just as bright and don't use as much energy, which saves you money as well as air pollution.
Please remember that strings of lights, electrical cords, and metallic wrapping papers are NOT recyclable in your blue bin.
For more ideas, visit our website. Do you have a favorite holiday waste reduction tip? Share it with us at our blog!
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MRF Open House a Success
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This year, Waukesha County's Materials Recycling Facility had a very successful open house. Over 80 residents were able to tour the facility and visit the education room on November 15. This was great way to celebrate America Recycles Day. One lucky student won a copy of Disney's Wall-E and everyone had the opportunity to get another blue bin. The event was a lot of fun and everyone learned a lot of interesting facts: - 100 tons of recyclables is a lot! (the average daily amount collected for Waukesha County's program)
- Paper and bottles/cans are sorted on different lines so it is very important that you keep these items separate in your bin
- #1 bottles (i.e. soda and water bottles) get turned into c
 arpeting
The event could not have been a success without the assistance of our volunteers. Some have been with us for years, while others got to help us for the first time, including some students from Brookfield Central (Justin is pictured with Recycle Raccoon).
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Visit our Partners
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Materials Recycling Facility Update
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This past year over 2,000 Waukesha County residents visited the MRF. This 1 hour field trip touches on many topics popular for scout troops, school classes, and community organizations. If you have not made it to the MRF yet, be sure to check us out today! Check us out online!
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Join the Conversation
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We would love to hear what you have to say on the latest issues.
Our Website
Our Blog
Twitter with daily tips
News Stories @ digg.com
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| Get the Meds Out! Pilot Program to End December 31st!
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 Keep our kids safe and our waters clean ~
NEVER flush or pour medicine down the drain.
A free mail-back program to properly dispose of old, unused medicine that was launched in mid-May will conclude on December 31st. Call 1-800-958-5859 to receive a pre-paid envelope for your over-the-counter and prescription medications. For more information, visit our website. Be sure to encourage everyone who has not yet taken advantage of this program to do so by December 31st!
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| Free Blue Bins!
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 A local study shows that people recycle more when they have adequate storage for their recyclables. To help residents with this problem, Waukesha
County will be making free blue bins available to participants in the
county's recycling program.
Get an updated list of locations and times at our website. Also, if you know of any community events to distribute free residential recycling bins, please contact our office and we can make the bins and some brochures on the recycling program available to the event sponsor. Some great events for blue bin distributions include community events, pancake breakfasts, and school functions like open houses and parent-teacher conferences.
For more information on which
communities are participating, what to recycle, holding a distribution at a community event, and where to get a bin on other
days, visit www.waukeshacounty.gov/recycling
or call the county recycling office at 262-896-8300.
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Free
Blue
Bin
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For residents of the County's Recycling program, free blue bins are available at several community locations and special events. Participating communities include the cities of Brookfield, Delafield, New Berlin, Oconomowoc, Pewaukee, and Waukesha. Towns of Brookfield, Delafield, Lisbon, Merton, Oconomowoc, Summit, and Waukesha. Villages of Big Bend, Chennequa, Dousman, Eagle, Elm Grove, Hartland, Lac La Belle, Meron, Nashotah, Oconomowoc Lake, Pewaukee, and Wales.
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Visit your city, town, or village hall!
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