Fort Worth Star-Telegram: An Earth-Friendly Guide to Ditching Your Debris
Filed under: Earth 911 - January 5, 2008
By Cathy Frisinger
Feeling blue because the holidays are over? Change that blue to green as you get your life and your house back in workaday-world order, with an eco-friendly post-New Year’s cleanup.
Got a new laptop for Christmas? Lucky you. But what do you do with your old computer?
Consumers will discard about 400 million electronic items this year, Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas Kostigen write in The Green Book (Three Rivers Press, $12.95), making it the fastest-growing category of waste.
Don’t throw out that old computer, cellphone, DVD player or pager (you still have a pager?). Recycle them instead. Yes, it may take a bit of work to figure out how, but it is particularly important to keep electronics from ending up in landfills, because they often contain toxic substances such as heavy metals and lead. Here are some options:
General electronics
Arlington residents can take used electronics to the Arlington Landfill, 800 Mosier Valley Road. Components that are not reusable are sold to ARC, an Arlington company that recycles electronic waste.
The city of Euless has electronics recycling events twice a year. Check the city’s Web site, www.ci.euless.tx.us, to find out when events are scheduled.
Fort Worth residents can drop off used electronics and appliances, working or not (no TVs and no business items) at three drop-off centers, 2400 Brennan Ave., 5150 Martin Luther King Jr. Freeway, or the temporary site at 6260 Old Hemphill Road.
If your used electronics are working, they can be donated at any Goodwill Center. (You’ll get a tax deduction for the value of your donation, too.) Many office-supply stores accept some used electronics, including computers.
Desktop Disposal will pick up used electronics for a fee ($12 for PCs, for instance). There is no fee for pickups of 10 items or more. Or, drop off items at its location, 1719 Peters Road, No. 526, Irving. Call 866-622-5758 or go to www.desktopdisposal.com for more information.
To find more sites in your area that accept used electronics, go to www.earth911.org, click on the item you wish to get rid of (battery, computer, cellphone, etc.), type in your ZIP code and hit “search.”
Computers and game systems
Computers and game stations—working or broken—are accepted for recycling at Goodwill Centers throughout Tarrant County.
Cellphones
Cellphones typically can be returned or sent to phone stores for recycling. Sprint, for instance, accepts phones in its stores, and now includes postage-free shipment bags for the recycling of old phones. The returned cellphones are refurbished and donated or resold to raise money for charity. Don’t want to go to a store? Go to www.911cellphonebank.org, where you can print a label and get free shipping.
Before you donate a phone, disconnect the service and erase personal data. One quick way to clean a phone is the data eraser offered at www.recellular.com.
Batteries
Batteries of any kind don’t belong in the trash. Take them to the Fort Worth Environmental Collection Center, 6400 Bridge St., Fort Worth. Residents of most other cities in Tarrant County are eligible to use the center. For a list of cities that participate, go to www.fortworthgov.org/dem and click on “Household Chemicals.”
Old toys, miscellaneous
If you have children or young teens in your household, you may want to get rid of items they’ve outgrown, or that have been replaced with new items. Be careful about recycling. Not all plastics are recyclable, and most toys are not. Old toys, bikes, games and books that are in working order, as well as clothing in good condition, can be donated to places such as Goodwill.
Another place to donate used items is Berry Good Buys, 1701 W. Berry St., Fort Worth. Donations are accepted 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays. Or call 817-921-5898 to arrange for pickup. Money from the sale of items at Berry Good Buys goes to support Safe Haven Tarrant County.
“Regifting” for a cause
Consider donating Christmas gifts you received that you know you’ll never use to a charity, such as Goodwill or the Salvation Army, rather than letting them sit in the back of a closet forever.
Donated items should be clean and in working order. Otherwise, follow your city’s recycling rules for disposal.
Charities typically maintain staffed drop-off stations open during weekday business hours and weekends, except holidays.
Goodwill maintains clothing-only unstaffed drop-off stations in Arlington, Benbrook, Fort Worth and Keller. Many are in Albertsons grocery store parking lots; check www.goodwillfortworth.org for a list of locations and addresses.
What to do with holiday “trimmings” Christmas lights
If you’re going to discard Christmas lights that aren’t working, consider replacing them with low-energy LED lights, which are 90 percent more efficient than incandescent bulbs, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Three 100-light strands of LED bulbs running for five hours every day between Thanksgiving and New Year’s use 30 cents’ worth of energy, compared with $60 for the same number of incandescent lights, according to Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas Kostigen in The Green Book.
One source of LED Christmas lights, www.holidayLEDs.com, even has an incandescent recycling program through the end of January. You mail the lights to the company and they’ll recycle them (information is on Web site).
Christmas trees
Christmas trees take up a lot of space in landfills, but they are easily converted to wood chips that can be used as garden mulch and as a surface in playgrounds. A number of area cities have free Christmas-tree recycling/mulching programs.
Arlington will recycle trees left on the curb Thursday, Friday or Jan. 12, depending on the trash pickup day in the area. All ornaments, lights and tree stands must be removed. Do not place tree in a plastic bag. Flocking is OK. Also, Arlington residents can drop off trees to be recycled at Calloway’s Nursery, 4940 S. Cooper St., during business hours. Tree-chip mulch will be available from the city.
Euless is turning tree mulching into a party. On Jan. 12, bring your tree to Midway Park, 300 W. Midway Drive. There will be free hot dogs and hot chocolate, and if you bring a bag, you can bring home free wood chips.
Fort Worth has curbside tree pickup, and residents can also bring trees to two drop-off points: 2400 Brennan Ave. and 5150 Martin Luther King Jr. Freeway. Drop-off is 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday. Flocked trees are accepted. Free wood-chip mulch is available at both drop-off locations.
North Richland Hills is no longer accepting trees, but wood chips from recycled trees are available through Jan. 13 at Green Valley Community Park, 7701 Smithfield Road.
Southlake residents can drop off trees at Bicentennial Park, 450 W. Southlake Blvd., through Friday. Wood chips will be available to the public at noon Jan. 12.
Wrapping paper, bows, boxes and peanuts
Most wrapping paper is not recyclable, says Arlington Recycling Coordinator Lorrie Anderle. The best thing to do with gift-wrap paper and bags is to save and reuse it. Paper that is slightly crumpled can usually be ironed flat with an iron on a low setting.
Cardboard boxes can be saved for reuse. Or break them down flat and put them out with your recycling bin. (You can check out recycling rules for individual cities at www.timetorecycle.com.)
Packing peanuts are not recyclable, Anderle says, but they are reusable. Most mailing-center stores are delighted to accept them. Or save them for your own use.
Christmas cards can be recycled, but here’s another idea: Save the picture sides of the cards and cut them up to use as gift tags next year.