Solid Waste E-News: December 2021

Did You Know?
Christmas and New Year’s Solid Waste Schedules
‘Tis the Season...To Reduce Waste!
Compost Bins for Sale
Give Reviews and Share the E-News

Clothes hangers can be made of several kinds of materials: plastic, metal, wood, or fabric. Regardless of the material, these hangers tend to jam equipment at the recycling facility due to their unique shape.

If your clothes hangers are in usable condition, don’t throw them away! Consider donating your hangers to the Salvage Sheds, local thrift stores, tailor shops, or dry cleaners. Salvage sheds are located within the Waste & Recycling Centers, click here for more info. You can also post on Nextdoor, Facebook Marketplace, or Craigslist so someone in need of hangers in your area can give them a second life.

If your plastic and wire clothes hangers are not in usable condition, you can bring them to the Waste & Recycling Centers to be recycled separately. Plastic hangers can be recycled with rigid plastics (look for the purple dumpster). Wire hangers can be recycled with scrap metal.

Christmas and New Year's Day Holiday Schedule

'Tis the Season...To Reduce Waste

Did you know that in the holiday period from Thanksgiving to New Year’s, Americans throw away 25% more trash? This seasonal waste generation amounts to approximately 25 million tons of garbage, which is equivalent to 50 billion pounds – that’s a massive amount of waste (Stanford University).

Do your part in reducing waste sent to landfills and minimizing your environmental impact by using these tips and tricks!

Christmas Tree:

A hallmark decoration for the holiday season is the Christmas tree! While you and your loved ones are rockin’ around the Christmas tree – keep in mind where the tree will end up after the holiday celebrations come to an end. With real Christmas trees, the best thing to do is compost the tree at the end of its life. Orange County residents can bring their Christmas trees to the Eubanks Rd. or Walnut Grove Church Rd. Waste & Recycling Centers or the disposal facility to be composted with other yard waste. For those living in single-family houses in Chapel Hill, Carrboro or Hillsborough, check your Town’s instructions for including your Christmas tree with yard waste.

If you have an artificial Christmas tree, the best thing to do is reuse the tree every year! Every year that you reuse the tree is another year that it is being kept out of the landfill. If you no longer want your artificial tree, and it is still in usable condition, consider donating it to a local thrift store or non-profit organization.

Gift-giving:

Gift-giving and receiving are a big part of holiday celebrations. Before buying gifts this year, make a list of who you are purchasing gifts for along with a couple of gift ideas you have in mind for each one. Review the list and see if those items can be hand-made or purchased second-hand. Handmade gifts can be more meaningful than ones bought from a store. If the gift isn’t something that can be handmade, go thrifting! Buying second-hand doesn’t just include thrift stores – there are several online marketplaces and reseller sites that offer second-hand goods.

Beyond the traditional physical gifts, there are several other great gift options such as planning an outdoor activity like hiking or kayaking, donating to their favorite charity, subscription to a newspaper/magazine, or membership to a yoga studio or craft center.

Gift wrapping:

With gifts, come gift wrapping. Wrapping paper is often used once and thrown away. The best gift wrapping options are reusable materials or none at all! Traditional gift wrapping paper typically has a plastic or metallic finish and can NOT be recycled.

You may already have several rolls of gift wrapping paper from previous years that need to be used. Try wrapping the gifts carefully, to avoid using extra paper or extra tape, and this will also help keep the wrapping paper in good condition to be reused!

Aside from traditional gift wrapping paper, you can use brown paper bags, newspapers, magazines, t-shirts, and other fabrics. Decorating gifts with leaves, flowers, twine, and old holiday cards can give it a festive flair. If you receive gifts in traditional wrapping paper or gift bags, keep them to reuse them next year!

Check the graphic below to see if your gift wrapping paper can be recycled.

Compost Bins For Sale

Orange County Solid Waste offers counter-top compost pails and ‘Earth Machine’ backyard composters for sale. Sales are by APPOINTMENT ONLY. A limited number of appointments are available each Wednesday. To schedule an appointment, please call (919) 968-2788 or email recycling@orangecountync.gov.

You can pay with cash, check, or money order ONLY. Exact change is REQUIRED.
These make great gifts as well! Gift them to your friends and family that are striving to reduce their waste.

Prices: Counter Top Compost Pail: $5, Earth Machine Backyard Composter: $50

The sales will take place at the Orange County Scale house located at 1514 Eubanks Rd., Chapel Hill, NC 27516. Face Masks and compliance with social distancing measures are required. Due to the pandemic, employees are prohibited from assisting with the loading of purchases into customer’s vehicles. Individuals must load their purchase themselves. The composter comes in two pieces and will fit in any size car.

If a customer misses their appointment time, the customer must call to schedule another appointment.

Give Reviews and Share the E-News

The Orange County Solid Waste Department loves providing residents with helpful recycling information, waste reduction tips, and tricks, program updates and statistics, holiday schedules and so much more!

If you enjoy the monthly e-newsletter, please share it with friends and family in the area. To subscribe to the e-newsletter, click here. You can choose to get the newsletter by email, text, or both. IF you have questions about subscribing, please email recycling@orangecountync.gov.

If you have any suggestions on how the e-newsletter can be improved, please let us know! Email recycling@orangecountync.gov with your ideas and suggestions.

Can't Get Enough Trash Talk?

Listen to OC Solid Waste Representatives the second Tuesday of each month from 8:15 am to 8:45 am on the ‘3-D News’ on local radio WHUP 104.7 FM, over the air and streaming online. Visit this link to listen online. If you missed the show, you can listen online since shows are archived for a month after airing.