Recycle toxic trash for Earth Day in Southwest Riverside
Today, the state predicts as many as 1 billion people worldwide will take part in 2010 Earth Day celebrations.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
From highly hazardous to waste, like electronics and batteries, to less toxic materials like paper, Southwest Riverside offers many recycling options. (Toni McAllister/SWRNN)
In celebration of the Earth Day’s 40th anniversary, join the party Southwest Riverside! According to the State of California’s website, an estimated 20 million Americans took part in programs and activities to celebrate the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970. Today, the state predicts as many as 1 billion people worldwide will take part in 2010 Earth Day celebrations.
Want to join the fun? Here’s an easy way to take part all year long: recycle! Southwest Riverside has many recycling options for residents, including:
Placing recyclables in designated bins and waiting for the trash collector to pick them up once a week is the most convenient way to dispose of plastics, glass and paper, but not every waste management service provider offers curbside pickup. So if going green requires you to make a road trip (hopefully in a fuel-efficient car!), gather those aluminum cans, plastic bottles, and old electronics, and check out these local-area recycling centers. There might even be some cash in it for you!
Nearly all the local big-name grocery stores – Ralphs, Stater Bros., Albertson’s – feature reverse vending machines that let residents drop off their CRV containers for deposit refunds. Visit www.earth911.com for a complete list of locations that feature this type of recycling option. If you want to know just how large that deposit refund will be before packing up and driving off, use this handy CRV calculator to find out.
Drop-off centers for those once useful but now obsolete and environmentally hazardous electronics – known as e-waste — are plentiful in Southwest Riverside. Best Buy and Staples will unload them for you, and every now and again local groups sponsor collections. For example, May 1 – 2 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day, the Community Outreach Ministry in Wildomar is helping the region get rid of e-waste by sponsoring a collection in the Target parking lot at 41040 California Oaks in Murrieta.
If you are concerned about whether your “donated” goods will be sent to a third-world country for unsafe dismantling by local residents, including children, inquire with collection officials about where your waste is going.
Electronic accessories, like InkJet and toner cartridges, are accepted by the U.S. Post Office, Target, Best Buy and Staples.
When a cell phone dies, it belongs in the hands of a recycling center, not the trashcan. Drop old phones off at the various retail outlets for local cell service providers. Additionally, the U.S. Post Office, Target, Best Buy and Staples are drop-off centers.
Several chain auto parts stores — Kragan, Wal-Mart Lube and Express, Autozone, Big O Tires, Pep Boys and others — will take old car batteries and used motor oil.
Looking for a place to give all those old, dead standard batteries to? Temecula Recycling at 27635 Diaz Rd. will take them. They also handle just about every other recycling need you might have, from antifreeze to paint. If they can’t take your toxic trash, chances are they can advise you on the best possible disposal methods. You can also visit www.Earth911.com for a list of recycling centers that might be able to help, or stop by the state’s website at http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov.
Go ahead, join the party. Happy Earth Day!
Toni McAllister is the lifestyles editor for SWRNN.com.
Tags: Albertson's, Best Buy, Community Outreach Ministry, CRV, earth day, Murrieta, Ralphs, recycle, Staples, Stater Bros, SWRNN, Target, Toni McAllister, wildomar
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