By Steve Davies,
Healthy Planet Columnist
Photo: Earthbound Recycling in Eureka
As someone who has limited time these days, in large part to three part-time jobs, I’m still hoping to find some time to clean our home through recycling what we can, giving away what we can’t and hopefully throwing away as little as possible.
So as my column title suggests, recycling is always my first line of defense here at home and that begins with my local community’s recycling program. I’m fortunate enough to live in a community steeped in a rich tradition of recycling in Kirkwood. As I’ve no doubt talked about before though, a couple of the key points here are to clean what you’re putting in your recycling bin and whatever you do, don’t put them in plastic bags to then put in your bin.
Of course, while glass, tin, cardboard, paper and to a lesser extent, plastics are what most local programs take, there are also several other things that can be recycled at various places throughout St. Louis such as electronics, batteries and even paint. The question then of course is, where? Well, for those other things, there are currently two St. Louis Household, Hazardous Waste centers. The South HHW Facilitylocated on 291 E. Hoffmeister in south St. Louis while the North HHW Facility is located on 4100 Seven Hills Dr. in Florissant. Earthbound Recycling in Eureka also takes electronics, batteries, paint, metals and many other items and even has a resale shop. www.Earthboundrecycling.com
In addition, there are several other places that while are more limited in what they recycle, take those other items in addition to another very common item, metal. For electronics, the best place to visit is Midwest Recycling Center, a group who offer recycling events throughout the St. Louis area. Batteries can be recycled at many of your local hardware stores including Lowes & Home Depot. In regard to metals, there are several places including Scrap Mart Metals Recycling in Valley Park and World Metal Buyers in Fenton.
That said, after you’ve had the chance to recycle all those items, what about the other items where recycling might not be an option, things like clothes, household items and toys? Well, then there are places like Goodwill, Savers and even St. Vincent DePaul who will be happy to take all of your items. Unfortunately, for anything else, there is your trash can.
All in all, after a Happy Holiday and a Cheerful Cleaning, here’s hoping the new year will be a year to remember with a little more to recycle and donate while less to throw out.
For questions or comments please email me at thprecycler@yahoo.com.