Recycling & Composting

As part of its Year of Games, the University of Pennsylvania is among the 600-plus colleges and universities across the United States and Canada competing during the next eight weeks in RecycleMania 2012. This competition is designed to see which schools will minimize their waste stream most significantly and achieve the greatest recycling rate.

Thanks to everyone who brought their Christmas trees and obsolete electronics to Clark Park on Saturday! University City residents teamed up with UC Green and Bartlett Tree Experts to chip an amazing 324 trees. Those chips will now be composted rather than ending up in landfills, and if you want to continue to smell their delicious aroma, pass by Farm51 at 51st & Chester, or the Holly Street Garden, on Holly Street just north of Powelton Ave., where the chips will be used as mulch.

How many different pizza delivery menus do you really need? Did you know that you could stop those pesky advertisements from appearing constantly in your mailbox (and then in the street, when they blow away) with a simple sticker? Starting in 2012, you can stop by the UCD office at 3940 Chestnut Street and pick up a neat Circular Free Property sticker (from 8:30AM – 5:00PM, M – F).

A couple of important announcements in the last few days on the city's recycling policy come just in time for the holidays. The city announced that liquid cartons can now be recycled. That includes milk and juice containers, and the kind of cartons that contain unrefrigerated soups, soy milk, etc. As you prepare your holiday meals, make sure that these containers make it into your recycling bin instead of your trash can. The city also announced that #6 styrofoam can now be recycled, though you do need to bring it to the Northeast Drop-Off Center (directions here).

If you haven't signed up yet for Recycling Rewards, you've got a great reason to do so right now. The Lea School at 47th & Locust was the recipient of a grant from Recyclebank which will allow them to build six new raised bed gardens for students, parents, and teachers, greening their asphalt schoolyard.  But they can only do it with your help! Recyclebank will match your point donations, up to 500 points, until this project gets the full $550 in funding that they're aiming for.

New parents quickly discover how briefly their tykes fit into their brand new adorable little sweaters. The St. Mary's school, right in the heart of University City at 3916 Locust Walk, will gladly help you to sell that outfit though, helping to support this great school, and earning you a share of the profits as well. The school's annual consignment sale is scheduled for Saturday, January 28, from 9:30am - 2:30pm and they're now accepting consignors who are looking to part with new or lightly used clothes, toys, and other kids items. Consignors earn 50-60% of the sale's proceeds.

Starting at the end of November, The Fresh Grocer at 40th & Walnut St. will be offering serious discounts to shoppers using reusable grocery bags. Purchase a Fresh Grocer reusable bag for $1, or an insulated reusable bag for $1.49, and you'll be rewarded with 5¢ off your purchase every time you use your bag. Those reusable bags are made from recycled materials, and on average, each reusable bag eliminates about 312 plastic bags per year. What's more, you'll also receive 50 Recyclebank points when you purchase your bag, and every time you use it.

If you've already started raking and bagging your leaves, you might want to hold off, or at least hold onto your bags, for at least a couple more weeks. Beginning on Monday, November 7th, and running through Friday, December 16th, the city will be collecting bagged leaves for composting. In order to be composted though, your leaves need to be bagged in paper bags - leaves in plastic trash bags will be disposed of as trash. Keep your leaves free of trash, and put them out with the rest of your trash and recycling on your normal trash collection day.