You may have noticed the second, smaller dumpster next to our landfill dumpster. It’s official: ILC now has a weekly pickup of most recyclables. At our request, Waste Management (WM) has extended their bulk recycling to Grand Ledge – at least to ILC. We have a common recyclables dumpster that is sorted at the WM facility. (See www.thinkgreen.com). 

What goes in the Recyclables Dumpster?

Office paper (not glossy), newspaper, plastics #1 and  #2, metal cans, aluminum foil (without plastic or paper), corrugated cardboard, boxboard, clear glass. Boxboard includes cereal boxes, cracker boxes, pasta dinner boxes, paper egg cartons, toilet paper & paper towel tubes, tissue boxes without plastic, shoe and shirt boxes, gray back boxes, brown bags. 

Not acceptable: plastics not labeled #1 or #2, any colored glass, wax coated cardboard (e.g. milk/OJ cartons, meat cases, some produce cases), pop/beer cases, butter cartons or boxes that may be in the refrigerator, frozen food cartons, plastic from tissue boxes, foil lamination boxes, poster board, junk mail, glossy magazines. 

How should we prepare materials?

Flatten boxes, rinse and flatten plastic and cans and foil, discard lids from plastic (they don’t recycle unless labeled #1 or #2). Also, bag office paper separately in clear (not white) plastic bags; newspaper and brown grocery bags can go in the same clear bag. Then toss in the recycling dumpster, unsorted.

How do we collect materials?

In the church and 501 building we will have separate baskets lined with clear plastic bags to collect office paper. Small open boxes for office paper can be placed next to desks, meeting rooms, copiers, etc. When full they can be dumped into the larger office paper baskets lined with clear plastic. When full the clear plastic bags are closed with twist ties and tossed in the recycling dumpster. Other materials (can be tossed into the dumpster directly. We will have unlined recycling bins in a couple places for easy collection. 

Can we put our household recyclables in the church dumpster?

Well, maybe. Waste Management allows it. We will probably have a little room. It gets emptied every week. If everyone follows the instructions, if we don’t overfill it, and if our Support Team doesn’t discover problems it could work. Granger offers curbside recycling in Grand Ledge, but does not take office paper or cardboard. Grand Ledge recycling center is open 24/7 to all Eaton County residents, and it’s free. They take everything listed above except boxboard. They take additional items as well. They are at 401 Whitney St., behind Oakwood Cemetery. 

What goes in the old Landfill Dumpster?

Only items that cannot recycle. Please do not fill our landfills with material that can be remanufactured into consumables. Every item we recycle reduces the need to drill, mine, smelt, or cut down. And less energy is used as well.

So, that is what our environmental ministry is doing at church. What are you doing at home and at the office?