Earth Festival Offers Brand New Recycling Opportunities
MILFORD – Have you ever wondered why those wrappers from individual cheese slices aren’t recyclable? Ever wished you didn’t have to throw that empty toothpaste tube into the trash?
On April 13, you can bring these and a number of other previously non-recyclable or difficult-to-recycle waste items to Earth Festival 2013. From there, they will go on to a New Jersey-based company, TerraCycle, to be converted into new products such as recycled park benches and upcycled backpacks.
“There are so many things we all throw away on an almost daily basis that are not accepted through our local recycling resources – cereal bags, chip bags, spent pens and markers,” said Otsego County Conservation Association Special Projects Manager Martha Clarvoe, who recently discovered the TerraCycle program.
“Through TerraCycle, we’ll be keeping more materials out of the county waste stream and out of landfills. At the same time, for each piece of garbage collected, OCCA will receive money toward next year’s event,” Clarvoe added.
Previously non-recyclable waste items being accepted at this year’s Earth Festival are:
• any brand used toothpaste tubes, toothbrushes and plastic toothbrush packaging
• any brand of flexible cheese packaging, including string cheeses packages, individual singles wrappers, singles packages, shredded cheeses packages, grated cheese, and all flexible cheese wrappers
• any empty brand or size chip bag
• diaper packaging waste, including plastic diaper packaging, wipes outer plastic packaging and individual wipes packaging
• any size Elmer’s brand glue sticks, plastic glue bottles, refill jars and Elmer's glitter glue tubes (Elmer’s only)
• all plastic cereal bags and cereal bag liners of any brand
• any brand pens and pen caps, mechanical pencils, markers and marker caps, permanent markets and permanent marker caps.
According to the website, TerraCycle’s purpose is to eliminate the idea of waste by creating national recycling systems for previously non-recyclable or hard-to-recycle waste.
Anyone can sign up for their 40-plus programs, called the Brigades, and start sending waste. TerraCycle points can then be redeemed for a variety of charitable gifts, or for a payment of $0.01 per point to the non-profit organization or school of your choice. With more than 20 million people collecting waste in over 20 countries, TerraCycle has diverted billions of units of waste and used them to create over 1,500 different products available at major retailers.
TerraCycle’s goal is to eliminate the idea of waste by creating collection and solution systems for anything that today must be sent to a landfill. For more information, visit www.terracycle.com
The 8th Annual Earth Festival will be held on Saturday, April 13 at Milford Central School. The traditional information and vendor fair will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the gymnasium – kicking off the day will be the Delaware-Otsego Audubon Society’s popular pre-festival bird walk.
Master Gardeners of Cornell Cooperative Extension Schoharie and Otsego Counties will return with Spring Garden Day in conjunction with Earth Festival, featuring classes on a wide variety of gardening topics suitable for those both new and experienced to gardening. Dr. Jonathan Comstock, a researcher from the Department of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University, will speak at 11:15 a.m. as part of Spring Garden Day. His presentation, on climate change and its impact on the growing season and gardens, is free and open to the public.
This year, the Milford Central School Education Foundation’s “recycled fashion” show is back by popular demand! Students and adults are invited to showcase wearable art they made or embellished themselves with recycled and waste materials – anyone interested in entering an outfit is welcome. For more information, call or e-mail lhenry@milfordcentral.org.
The EcoArt/Trendy Trash Contest and expanded children’s activities led by Milford Central School students will also be featured. Styrofoam (clean, white only), bubble wrap, empty inkjet cartridges, cell phones, eyeglasses, reusable shows, videotapes and CDs, and used nylon monofilament fishing line will also be collected for recycling.
Earth Festival is an environmentally-focused, interactive event featuring exhibits, activities, vendors and entertainment, all with a fun, earth-friendly twist. Financial contributions are most welcome, and an open invitation to earth-friendly exhibitors, food and retail vendors is extended. Earth Festival 2013 is sponsored by Otsego County Conservation Association and WildLearn.com. To sign up or donate, look for the registration form at www.occinfo.org. Call or e-mail admin@occainfo.org to learn more.
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