Talking Trash

Friday, February 29, 2008

Scrap Metal Recycling Challenge begins March 1, 2008

Starting March 1, the communities of Cabin John and Carderock Springs will compete by... recycling scrap metal!  The Scrap Metal Recycling Challenge will run for seven weeks, from March 1 through April 18, 2008.

The Challenge will be supported by more than 120 volunteers.  We trained them this week, and they are ready to recycle lots of scrap metal!

We'll measure each community's progress by weighing the metal collected from its residents.  At the end of the Challenge, we'll compare the weights, and announce the winner.

Don't live in Cabin John or Carderock Springs? We provide curbside scrap metal recycling for your large metal items at no charge.  And, we accept both large and small metal items for recycling when you bring them to the Scrap Metal area at our Solid Waste Transfer Station.

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CATEGORIES: Scrap Metal , Recycling , Volunteers
POSTED: 3:28:00 PM |

Friday, February 15, 2008

How do I get rid of bowling balls?

From our mailbag:

I have 5 bowling balls to get rid of. Can I leave them for curbside collection? Please say, yes.

Thank you for your question, D.!

The answer is a qualified "yes"...  If you have Montgomery County-provided trash service, you could request a bulk trash collection for your bowling balls. 

On the other hand, reuse would be a great alternative, and keep the heavy bowling balls out of the waste stream.  Posting an offer to your local Freecycle Network group or to Craigslist would probably find you a taker in little time.  Or, if you're feeling creative, those bowling balls could become works of art!

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CATEGORIES: Mailbag , Reuse , Trash
POSTED: 12:50:00 PM |

Monday, February 11, 2008

Presidents' Day holiday - normal schedule

Monday, February 18, 2008 - Presidents' Day  - is a regular recycling and trash collection day. All County-provided recycling and trash collections will be made on their normal schedule (barring any snow or ice events!).

If you have any questions or concerns about your County-provided collection, please contact our Customer Service staff online or call 240-777-6410.

Note: if you (or your community) have a private contract for your trash collection, or if you live in a municipality, these schedule announcements may not apply to your trash service -- check with your hauler or community manager.

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CATEGORIES: Holidays , News
POSTED: 10:52:00 PM |

Friday, February 08, 2008

How can I recycle my old phone books?

I came home to find a neatly tied bag of phone books in my driveway.  How can I recycle my old ones?

Remember when we had to take our old phone books to recycling drop-off points?  Today, recycling those phone books is as easy as dropping them into our wheeled paper recycling carts!  Those of us without carts may bundle them with our other paper recyclables for convenient curbside collection.

Well, that takes care of the books, but there's still the matter of the plastic bag in which they were delivered... 

Reusing the plastic bag is the best choice.  It's just a little larger than a grocery bag, and ties easily.  So, it would make a nice trash can liner, for example.  If you prefer to recycle it, just add it to the plastic bag collection at a nearby grocery store.

Now, I'm off to make that drop into my wheeled cart (after removing items like advertising magnets, and hidden goodies, like pressed leaves...)...

CATEGORIES: Paper
POSTED: 10:22:00 PM |

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Does your recycling bin regularly overflow?

If you have a regularly overflowing recycling bin, we have a solution for you!  It's our recycling can, which boasts a 32-gallon capacity.

How big is a 32-gallon recycling can?  This photo compares (from left to right) our wheeled paper recycling cart (65-gallon capacity), regular recycling bin (22-gallon capacity), and the recycling can (32-gallon capacity) you may order on this page.

Convinced that this is the recycling container for you?  Dash over to our "web store", and place your order today! We have a limited number of these cans (which come with a lid!), so order yours before we "sell out."

We expect to deliver your 32-gallon can to you within 3 weeks of your order, at no charge.

CATEGORIES: Recycling
POSTED: 7:47:00 PM |