Composting: Nature’s Way of Recycling

Green material is added to a compost bin to help produce compost.  Greens include vegetable and fruit scraps.  Photo: Flickr/Gudlyf

Celebrating International Compost Awareness Week

(Dalton, GA, May 9, 2012) –  According to the EPA’s 2010 Municipal Solid Waste study, 27% of household waste in the United States is made up of food remnants and yard trimmings.  These organic residuals can be very useful to the environment if they’re recycled into compost instead of being thrown away.  Composting can easily be started in your backyard by combining landscape trimmings and food scraps in a compost bin.  Nature takes care of the rest, producing a nutrient rich soil amendment through the decomposition process after several months.

Compost producing bins are filled with a combination of “brown” materials, “green” materials, and water for moisture.  Brown materials include paper, cardboard, dry yard waste like dry leaves, small branches and twigs, and straw.  Greens include wet yard waste like fresh grass clippings, green leaves, as well as food scraps like vegetable and fruit peels, coffee grounds, and bread.   Each category provides the nitrogen and carbon needed for nature’s recycling process to begin.   When the material at the bottom of the bin is dark and rich in color, and has no remnants of food or yard waste, the compost is ready to use.

To celebrate International Compost Awareness Week, Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful is hosting a Compost Bin Sale at the Downtown Dalton Saturday Market.  On Saturday, May 12th at the Dalton Green from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm volunteers will be distributing composting information and selling a limited number of “Garden Gourmet” Backyard Composters for only $40.00 each, 50% off the retail price of $79.99.

International Compost Awareness Week, organized by the US Composting Council, is from May 6 to 12 this year.  To learn more about composting visit www.compostingcouncil.org.  For event information call Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful at 706-226-6211 or visit www.keepdaltonwhitfieldbeautiful.org.

Compost Bin Sale - Saturday, May 5 and May 12

Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful is celebrating International Compost Awareness Week by hosting a Compost Bin Sale on May 5 and May 12 at the Downtown Dalton Saturday Market.  A limited number of Garden Gourmet Backyard Composters are available.

Celebrating International Compost Awareness Week

(Dalton, GA, May 3, 2012) – In partnership with International Compost Awareness Week, Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful is hosting two Compost Bin Sales at the Downtown Dalton Saturday Market.  On both Saturday, May 5th and Saturday, May 12th at the Dalton Green from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm volunteers will be selling a limited number of the “Garden Gourmet” Backyard Composter for only $40.00 each, 50% off the retail price of $79.99.  A portion of each sale benefits environmental education for K-12 students in Whitfield County, and several Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful events like Christmas Tree Recycling Day.

The “Garden Gourmet” backyard composter is an attractive bin that fits neatly into almost any backyard space thanks to its compact size of 24”x24”x36”.   The easy to assemble bin is made from 51% recycled plastic and includes convenient features like a sliding bottom door to remove compost.  It’s an ideal choice for beginners since it includes a basic composting guide.

Gardeners refer to composting as “turning your garbage into gold” because it keeps food scraps and organic waste out of the landfill while allowing nature to recycle them into a nutritious soil amendment.   Items that can be added to your compost pile include coffee grounds, tea bags, fruit and vegetable scraps, leaves, hair, and grass clippings.

International Compost Awareness Week, organized by the US Composting Council, is from May 6 to 12 this year.  For more information, and to learn more about composting visit the US Composting Council at www.compostingcouncil.org.

For more information call Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful at 706-226-6211 or visit www.keepdaltonwhitfieldbeautiful.org. 

Community Pride Day on April 21

Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful invites residents to drop off bulky waste for disposal and electronics for recycling on Saturday, April 21 at Community Pride Day during the Great American Cleanup.  Please remember to secure your load for cleaner roads.

Annual Bulky Waste and Electronics Collection Day for Whitfield County

(Dalton, GA, April 6, 2012) - Community Pride Day during the Great American Cleanup will be on Saturday, April 21 from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm.  Community Pride Day facilitates Spring Cleaning by inviting Whitfield county residents to dispose of bulky items and electronics without paying disposal fees at select drop-off locations.  The Old Dixie Hwy. Landfill and Convenience Center is the Main Location for this event.  Community Locations include three middle schools, Westside Middle School, Eastbrook Middle School, and North Whitfield Middle School.

All four locations will be accepting bulky items for disposal and electronics for recycling.  Bulky items include furniture, household equipment, and appliances.  Electronics include computers, digital cameras, cell phones, printers, scanners, and laptops.  There is a limit of one television accepted per vehicle.  Please remember to secure your load for cleaner roads.  Tie down and put a tarp on items placed in the back of a pick-up truck or trailer.

The Old Dixie Landfill and Convenience Center is the only location accepting Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) that includes household pesticides, pool chemicals, varnish and latex paints.  For a complete list of HHW please visit www.DWSWA.org or call 706-277-2545.

Community Pride Day is open to residents of Whitfield County only.  Only residential or household waste will be accepted.  No business, commercial, construction or demolition waste is accepted.  Tires are not included in this event and should be disposed of at a Convenience Center for a minimal fee.  Household hazardous waste and tires will not be accepted at the school locations.

If you are unable to attend the event this year, please keep in mind that Household Hazardous Waste is accepted at the Old Dixie Landfill and Convenience Center on the third Saturday of every month from 7 am to 2 pm.  Electronics are accepted year round at the same location, Monday thru Friday 7 am to 6 pm, and Saturday 7 am to 3 pm.

Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful, the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority, and Whitfield County Public Works organize this annual event.  For more information or to volunteer, call Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful at 706-226-6211, visit www.keepdaltonwhitfieldbeautiful.org, or e-mail lswafford@dwswa.org.

ADDITIONAL LINKS:

• Event Listing on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/343841238995751/
• Event Listing on Dalton Events and Daily Citizen websites: http://www.eviesays.com/event/id/2546264.html
• Event Listing on Yahoo Upcoming and Earth911 websites: http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/8793090/GA/Dalton/Community-Pride-Day-During-the-Great-American-Cleanup-2012/Old-Dixie-Hwy-Landfill-and-Convenience-Center/

Local Schools Place in Nationwide Recycling Competition

New Hope Middle School Takes 5th at the State Level

(Dalton, GA, March 9, 2012) –  Keep America Beautiful, Inc., the nation’s largest volunteer-based community action and education organization, has announced the winners of “Recycle-Bowl”, the first comprehensive nationwide recycling competition for elementary-, middle- and high-school students.  45 schools in Georgia participated at the state level recycling as much as possible during the weeks of October 17, 2011 to November 12, 2011.   Several local schools placed in the Top 10 in Georgia, including New Hope Middle School, which placed 5th in the state.

Public and private schools in Whitfield County currently participate in Target Recycling at School, a free recycling collection service offered by the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority.  With the assistance of the DWSWA’s recycling center, 35 local schools were registered for the inaugural competition.  Each school received a kit to help promote recycling in their school.  At the end of the competition period the weights of the recyclables collected at each school were reported to Recycle-Bowl staff.

Georgia’s Top 10 Recycle-Bowl Competitors:

1. Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School, Rabun Gap, GA

2. Brighten Academy, Douglasville, GA

3. Hollis Hand Elementary, Lagrange, GA

4. Crabapple Crossing Elementary School, Milton, GA

5. New Hope Middle School, Dalton, GA

6. Pleasant Grove Elementary School, Dalton, GA

7. Dug Gap Elementary School, Dalton, GA

8. Learning Tree School, Dalton, GA

9. Whitfield Career Academy / Phoenix High School, Dalton, GA

10. Dawnville Elementary School, Dalton, GA

A full list of statewide winners can be found at www.Recycle-Bowl.org.

The total amount of school only recyclables recovered nationwide during the 2011 competition added up to 2,088,000 pounds, which in turn prevented the release of nearly 990 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2E). In real-world terms, this reduction in greenhouse gases is equivalent to the annual emissions from 154 passenger cars; 191,998 gallons of gas; or nearly 7.4 million gallons of water.

“Keep America Beautiful is thrilled with the success of Recycle-Bowl’s inaugural year and our congratulations go to all participating schools for their work in showing how small changes can make a huge impact,” said Matt McKenna, president and CEO of Keep America Beautiful.

Recycle-Bowl By The Numbers:

• 1,223 schools registered – 1% of all U.S. public and private schools.
• More than 500,000 students participated in the competition.
• On average, 5.32 pounds of material was collected per person in the school versus school division during the four weeks of the competition.
• 67% of schools saw “significant” or “some” increase in the amount of material recycled.
• If all students in America recycled at the rate of this year’s Recycle-Bowl competitors, approximately 1.8 million tons of material would be diverted annually from landfills. That would be the weight of 156,000 school buses!

About Keep America Beautiful

Keep America Beautiful, Inc., established in 1953, is the nation's largest volunteer-based community action and education organization. This national nonprofit forms public-private partnerships and programs that engage individuals to take greater responsibility for improving their community environments.  For additional information, visit www.kab.org.

Curbside Recycling Program Recognition Scheduled For March 19

The City of Dalton Curbside Recycling program accepts a variety of products for recycling.  They include paper, cardboard, aluminum cans, bi-metal cans, glass bottles and jars, and plastic bottles and jugs.

(Dalton, GA, March 7, 2012) - The City of Dalton Curbside Recycling Program will be recognized for it’s 2011 recycling efforts on March 19 at 6:00 pm at Dalton City Hall during the regularly scheduled City Council Meeting.  In 2011 residents participating in the Curbside Recycling program collected 2,532,120 lbs. of recyclables, a 14% increase over recycling in 2010.

Residents are invited to attend the special presentation and learn more about this local recycling program.  Representatives from the recycling center will be available to answer questions and distribute free recycled pens and other items from America Recycles Day.  For more information call 706-278-5001 or visit www.DWSWA.org.