Whether at home or at work, this is the time of year to air out the closets and drawers and re-evaluate your stock.
   Work
   > Remember to reuse as much as you can, then recycle. Manila folders can be turned every which way and reused with a new label.
   > Remember to buy items that can be reused such as pens and engineering pencils.
   > Watch the amount of emails you are printing. Can the same information be transferred to a Word document and printed using less paper? The same goes for copying information from the Web. A great deal of paper is wasted by just hitting the print button. The information printed oftentimes is advertising and will be tossed in the recycle bin immediately. Use double-sided copying as your default!
   > Send in the Get Off Junk Mail card (click here for more info) and contact any of the catalog companies or businesses advertising for work-related courses and remove yourself from their lists. Ask for just one and send it around the office for review or interest.
   > Use your bulletin boards for relaying important office information.
   > Use a grease board for meeting agendas. Review the amount of information you are copying and distributing for meetings. Cut back whenever feasible.
   Home
   > Give your extra stuff away on www.Freecycle.org  It’s free to takers and givers!
   > Give your extra stuff to any of the thrift-type stores such as the Salvation Army, Goodwill, St. Vincent De Paul or Last Chance Mercantile.
   > Have a garage sale! It's a great way to meet your neighbors and it’s fun!
   > Buy quality, not quantity. Repair when you can.
   > Take your electronic waste to one of the electronic waste drop stations, free of charge. Click here for locations.
   > Recycle your motor oil. Request a container and filter bag from your garbage hauler (in Monterey call Monterey City Disposal Service Inc. at 372-7977; in Spreckles, Gonzales, Greenfield and Soledad call Tricities Disposal at 888.678.6798; all other cities call Waste Management at 831.384.5000). Place full oil container and filter in bag on curb next to recycle bin on your service day.
   > Send in the Get Off Junk Mail card  (click here for more info).
   > Remember to recycle your household batteries and convert to rechargeable batteries. Rechargeables are Recyclable!
   Have a wonderful time cleaning and think REDUCE WASTE, REUSE WHAT YOU CAN, THEN RECYCLE!

Battery Recycling & Earth Day Updates
 by Angela Brantley, Solid Waste Manager

Battery Recycling Made Easy
The City of Monterey has worked to place collection buckets for the disposing of alkaline and rechargeable batteries at various City sites. Click here for locations.
   When applicable, please convert to rechargeable batteries as rechargeable batteries are recyclable, alkalines are not.

Fluorescent Light Bulbs  

Fluorescent bulbs contain mercury, a hazardous material that must be handeled and disposed of properly. Store bulbs in a safe location and collect a few before you take them to the center. There are now a variety of locations on the Monterey Peninsula that will take back these light bulbs, free of charge. These locations include:

• Home Depot, Seaside, CA
• Orchard Supply Hardware (OSH), Sand City, CA
• Monterey Peninsula Waste Management District, Marina, CA

Switching from traditional light bulbs to CFLs is an easy change consumers can make to reduce energy use at home. According to the EPA’s ENERGY STAR® program, if every American switched out one incandescent bulb to a CFL, it would prevent more than 600 million in annual energy costs and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions from 800,000 cars.

Where can I take my Household Hazardous Waste for safe disposal?

On the Monterey Peninsula:

Monterey Regional Waste Management District
14201 Del Monte Blvd
Marina, CA 93933
(831) 384.5313
www.mrwmd.org

In the Salinas Valley:

Salinas Valley Solid Waste Authority
139 Sun Street
Salinas, CA 93901
(831) 424.5535
www.svswa.org

Johnson Canyon Landfill
31400 Johnson Canyon Road
Gonzales, CA 93901
(831) 675.2165
www.svswa.org

Businesses Make Earth Day Everyday
As part of the Earth Day celebration this year, the City Council recognized several businesses that have incorporated environmental policies to reduce waste. Click here for a listing of those businesses.
  
Remember, make Earth Day everyday! Reduce waste when possible. Pick up litter when you can.

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Plastic Bags Chaos Unraveled
 by Angela Brantley, Solid Waste Manager

Many of you call asking about what to do with your plastic bags. Most supermarkets offer plastic bag recycling near their front doors (that's the good news) but there are some changes that we need to keep in mind, as explained below.
   Tips:
   1. I encourage all of you to carry cloth bags that can be reused. Remember to place them in your vehicle (or bicycle) so that you can grab them without thinking. Most stores credit you 5 cents for each of your own bags (stores include Safeway, Nob Hill, Ralph's, Albertson's, Whole Foods and more). However, even when you use your own bags, you will still magically wind up with more plastic bags than you will ever need. If you find you must use plastic bags, ask the packer to use only one bag and to fill it properly (support the sides and fill the middle) to reduce the amount of bags you bring home.
   2. REUSE any bag as much as possible before recycling.
  
Changes to keep in mind:
   1. Any "stretchy" filmy plastic bag is recyclable in the City of Monterey Curbside recycling service. Not only can you recycle the plastic grocery bags but the list has expanded to include filmy bags for: newspapers, vegetables, dry cleaning, all colors, paper towel/toilet paper packaging, "Ziploc," soda/water packaging, bread wrap and bubble wrap.
   2. Place bags in a bag and knot the top.
   3. Unacceptable contaminants include:
       no hard or rigid plastics
       no rigid bag handles or drawstrings
       no six-pack rings
       no woven plastic bags or tarps
       no Tyvek
       no foam plastics
       no photographic film
       no strapping or twine
       no food or liquids
       no dirt or organic matter
       no diapers or animal waste
       no receipts or other paper
       no wood, metal, glass or grit

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Litter, Yuck!
 by Angela Brantley, Solid Waste Manager

I hope you have noticed that there is less litter along Highway 1. For the most part, a successful partnership between the City and CalTrans has been forged and the effort is producing results. Remember, it is important to take responsibility for the litter issues facing our community.
   In other news, I recently read an article by Margie Kay, written for the Tri-County News, and would like to share it, possibly for inspiration:

“Here is something else to consider: everyone everywhere notices the tossed convenience food cups and wrappers on the roadsides, the tossed bottles and cans, runaway plastic bags and abandoned furniture or household appliances. How does this happen? Are folks just not thinking? Obviously they don’t realize all this litter and trash can end up contaminating our water supply and ocean. We must begin to think about everything we use and where it goes. When will recycling become a way of life and not just a state law? Where will future landfills be allowed? For some the saying goes: reduce & recycle everyday, where you live, work and play. If you have never thought of it before, a simple start, is to take bags for your groceries, either take cloth ones or recycle those previously given to you (paper or plastic). Start noticing that more people are bringing bags into the store than before. Folks are making the connection between a simple decision and personal responsibility.
   “I have met others who care about community and making a difference. The Monterey County Illegal Dumping and Trash Abatement Task Force committee is planning a countywide cleanup day to correspond with Earth Day on Sat., April 22. Will you help? Would you contribute several hours of time to a hands-on-clean-up day? Can you imagine what it would be like for our tri-county area to have folks cleaning up neighborhoods, roadways, creeks and wetlands? Be your own hero or heroine, because everything you do is a choice and personal responsibility is something that must be discovered in everything we do. You can make a difference. Our children learn from watching us – so teach them by doing. Whether you like it or not, there is a ripple effect of both a butterfly wing in motion or a pebble tossed in still water.

Make it Earth Day every day by taking fifteen minutes each week to pick up litter in your neighborhood, parking lot or where you work or play. Helping out does not have to occur at a statewide organized event, it can start everyday, nearby

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