Increased recycling at fair

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The Champaign County Peace Alliance, Goshen Garden Club, and Mechanicsburg Future Farmers of America (FFA) sponsored recycling during the week of fair this year. Of the 17 boxes placed around the FFA Barns and Activity Buildings, 35 bags or about 250 pounds of plastic bottles and aluminum cans were collected and added to the recycling drop-off funded by the North Central Ohio Solid Waste district on U.S. Route 68.

This year’s fair recycling increased last year’s collection by 50 or more extra pounds. Please remember that these recycling boxes are for plastic bottles and aluminum cans only. Of the 35 bags collect we filled 2 bags of trash such as food and paper.

I would like to thank Susan Helterbran of the Solid Waste District for supplying the recycle boxes and liners, Wayne Cook from the Fair Board for allowing the groups to recycle and JP Kent from Mechanicsburg FFA for setting up and collecting all the FFA barns’ and arenas’ recycling. A very special thanks to my husband Steve Walters, who donates a trunk and helps me go through the bags to dispose of all the trash before adding to the recycling drop-off at the end of fair each year.

Many Fair Boards have chosen recycling services along with their waste management service, but until then we will recycle.

Here are some recycling facts:

-It takes aluminum cans 200-500 years to decompose. When we recycle aluminum, we reduce energy use by 90 percent, air pollution by 95 percent and save enough energy recycling just one can to run a TV for three hours.—NYS Dept of Environmental Conservation (2011 website)

-Plastic bottles can take over 1,000 years to decompose. Approximately 88 percent of the energy is saved by producing plastic from plastic as opposed to plastic from the raw materials of oil and gas.- http://www.wecarewasteandrecycling.com/facts.html

-Recycling saves energy, natural resources, money, time, landfill space, makes less pollution, including less greenhouse gasses, and creates jobs!

Debra Walters

Mechanicsburg

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