Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
The following guest column was written by Shelly Heckert, director of Kosciusko County Recycling Depot.
In the words of Dr. Seuss, “It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?”
Just like the Grinch finally realized, Christmas means more than ribbons and tags. Unfortunately, the reality of the Christmas season is that much of what we use to celebrate does come from a store, and the week of Dec. 26 our trash cans and recycle bins will be stuffed to overflowing. What to do?
When dealing with the aftermath of gift-giving extravaganzas and holiday entertaining, much of that extra waste can be recycled. Did you entertain? All the extra food cans, beverage cans and glass bottles should be recycled. Did you do any online shopping? Those plentiful corrugated shipping boxes should be flattened and recycled. Do you have piles of old holiday flyers and magazines? Recycle them. Plastics marked 1 to 7 can also go in the recycle bins. The big “no-no’s” of holiday recycling are protective packaging Styrofoam and any holiday wrapping paper made with foil.
What to do with that overflowing recycle bin? There is help for you! There are nine residential recycling stations placed conveniently around the county to accept recycling materials. Whether you have a curbside program or not, these stations are for one and all. The stations are located in Warsaw, Claypool, Pierceton, Silver Lake, Milford, Leesburg, North Webster, Syracuse and Mentone. For exact locations, check our website at: www.kcrecycling.com. Just recycle right and leave the contaminants for your garbage can.
Most everyone is familiar with the 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. These are the actions to help eliminate and manage holiday waste, but I encourage you to activate a fourth R – Rethink. Rethink those gifts – a gift of togetherness leaves you with no packaging to recycle and no gift that may go unused.
Our local towns have many great options for togetherness: Wagon Wheel tickets, a movie night, a Mad Ants game or a holiday lunch at one of our many fine eating establishments. Truly listen to your friends’ and family’s needs. Maybe your driving son or daughter needs a muffler for their vehicle and you can save them some car repair stress. There are so many great ideas; try and create cherished moments and memories. By rethinking, we reduce our waste and the burden us humans place upon the earth.
If you have already found the perfect gift, be mindful when you wrap it. Wrap a book or a gift to your favorite traveler in an old map (who uses those anymore?), utilize reusable gift bags and tins, even beautiful scarves or materials can make lovely and creative wrappings that can be used again and again. Check out YouTube videos on how to wrap gifts in reusable fabric using the furoshiki method. Or wrap a box Hollywood style, that’s when you wrap the top and bottom separately. This box can be used over and over throughout the years. Reusable packaging is also a great time saver, and who doesn’t need more of that?
This holiday, can you eliminate the ribbons and tags? Can you recycle those boxes and bags? This season, spread the word to neighbors and kin, to recycle more and fill up their bin. What happened in Kosciusko County they say, is the Grinch’s recycling bin grew 10 times that day.
