More Ways to Recycle

By Michelle Cherrier, Dummerston Representative Windham Solid Waste Management District

Check with the individual dealerships for hours of operation.

These stores will accept these recyclable items in these collection containers.

My Geranium

By Lisa Blake

Is there a latin name for her?

Who cares!

As time goes by, I am sure you’ve been trying to buy fewer items that create waste, that are un-recyclable. We have fewer and fewer places where we can create new landfills to bury waste, so manufacturers and retail partners are stepping up their efforts to offer more opportunities and more products that are truly recyclable. Two nationwide businesses with local outlets provide unique recycling opportunities.

We all know their constancy

Boston Common

Baha’i World Center

Because I own a Subaru, I receive emails from them, including the following from Updates@info.subaru. com: “Making Our World a More Sustainable Place.” Subaru and our retailers partner with TerraCycle® to recycle items like coffee cups and lids, snack wrappers, and single-use coffee pods in their stores. Since 2018, we’ve helped to keep more than 8 million pieces of hard-to-recycle waste out of landfills. Many Subaru retailers are even recycling wornout vehicle parts from their service area, such as plastic vehicle waste and cabin air filters. It’s all part of the Subaru Love Promise, a commitment to making a difference in our communities.”

And in my home

Ever since I had one.

Water once a week

South-facing window

A roomy pot & there she is.

Faithful flowering plant.

To use Subaru’s recycling service, I set up small collection boxes in my house to save disposable cups, lids, straws, candy and snack wrappers, and coffee and creamer capsules (yes, I occasionally have cups, lids, wrappers and coffee capsules). I put the saved packaging in plain old plastic grocery bags (I know everyone still has them, even in Vermont). Then I occasionally stop at the local Brattleboro Subaru dealer, go into the Service entrance, and into the service waiting area. I empty my bags in the appropriate container, and depart, wishing the staff a good day. They also have collection containers in the main Sales area, if you want to brave having a salesperson try to sell you a vehicle! The collection containers are meant for individual packages, not bagsful. Please don’t try to insert an entire bag into the opening. I can be in and out of the store in under sixty seconds. And, it doesn’t cost me any money.

If you don’t know about TerraCycle, here’s the link to their history: https://www.terracycle.com/en-US/about-terracycle/history They “recycle the unrecyclable.” I clicked on Subaru’s link (see below) and learned about theTerraCycle® Zero Waste Boxes that are available in participating Subaru dealerships, and the specific items that can be recycled in them: https://www.subaru.com/our-commitment/love-promise/subaru-loves-the-earth.html.

The link further explains: “It’s free, and you won’t need a TerraCycle account or shipping label.” Regional participating stores include: Brattleboro Subaru (1234 Putney Road), Subaru of Keene (11 Production Avenue), White River Subaru (429 Sykes Mountain Avenue), and Oliver Subaru of Rutland (128 US Route 7).

Staples is another retailer with a local store which provides recycling services every day. They have very active recycling bins (primarily for printer cartridges) available near their exit. They prefer to have you, as the customer, speak to a store associate to recycle your items and to earn rewards by buying products. Staples recycles a pretty extensive list of items in the categories of tech, audio, and visual equipment, printer cartridges, batteries of many types (including lithium ion), writing tools (pens, markers, mechanical pencils, and some miscellaneous items such as phone and tablet cases, and SodaStream®CO2 cylinders. The full list is available at https://www.staples.com/stores/ recycling. Staples also offers paper shredding at a cost per pound.

The simplest items to recycle are printer cartridges. Everything else—I recommend stopping at the customer service desk and speaking to a Staples associate.

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Providing reports of town organizations, and stories of townspeople and their good deeds, in promoting cooperation and understanding toward creating a more “ideal” Dummerston.

“All who read may also contribute!”—Mary Lou McBean, founder, Views of Dummerston