Earth Day Cleanup to Be Held on Tuesday

TNP's first cleanup held last June on Green Street

Happy Friday! Today's blog is quick to talk about our first cleanup of the Spring happening on Tuesday and why you should come volunteer. I also want to mention that our community calendar is currently on a hiatus..I am working on something new with it to help create a more uniform calendar. Stay tuned! In the meantime, I encourage you to head over to Norristown.org to stay in the loop.

On Tuesday, The Norristown Project will co-host a community cleanup with the municipality, Montgomery County OIC and Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful. This cleanup is a part of the Great American Cleanup which encourages businesses and organizations to clean the community around them and take pride in our environment. 

So when Norristown Municipality sent a call to all business owners and non-profits, TNP stepped up to the plate immediately. Not because volunteer events are our specialty...but simply because we are a member of Norristown and we should do our part. Several local businesses, PennDOT and Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful were generous enough to donate supplies for volunteers to make this a success. 

Here's a quick run through of the day's activities: Municipal employees will begin at Elmwood Park first thing in the morning to clean up the park and give the band shell a fresh coat of paint. Their plan is to clean the entire park. TNP and OIC will lead the second part of the cleanup from 10-1 beginning at the OIC and working our way out into the surrounding community. The majority of the work will be collecting trash and debris so we should be able to cover alot of ground. I am asking volunteers who plan on attending to email me a quick note so I can organize the group. You can RSVP by emailing NorristownProject@gmail.com

The meeting location for TNP's cleanup will be at the OIC located at 1101 Arch Street on the 2nd floor. This is the old Hancock School if you're unsure of where that is. You can't miss it! Parking is available from our Basin Street entrance. 

Next year when Earth Day comes around again (because it will), I hope to see more than just a handful of groups participating. The more businesses that participate and host a cleanup each Earth Day, the more ground we can cover in Norristown. 

I understand that a Tuesday is a difficult day for a cleanup to happen, but now you have a heads up for 2015. Earth Day will happen on a Wednesday next year, mark your calendars, request off work and plan to attend! 

The Norristown Project will also host more events in conjunction with national cleanup campaigns. We have a full schedule that we have yet to release. We want to keep you on the edge of your seats guessing! I can tell you that we will be very busy this Summer. For now, I will let you know that in the fall, we will host a huge recycling event so stay tuned.

I thank you in advance for volunteering this Earth Day. Remember, we only have one! Also, I would like to thank Gabriela with Norristown Municipality for coordinating this year's cleanup! We look forward to working with you on Tuesday and for future events.

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Recycling 101 for Norristonians

Recycling is important for any large town in America. However, many citizens aren't educated on the science called "recycling." Why call something that sounds easy to do a science? First, common sense is not so common. Second, it's the hardest subject I could think of referring it to. Recycling is NOT as easy as people think!

The first thing I want to point out is that each town/city has different restrictions on recycling. Norristown is one of those cases. For example, you can place cardboard in the recycling bin but Mascaro will not recycle it anymore. Wait, what? Yes, Mascaro to reduce costs has opted out of recycling cardboard. But they will collect it, then kindly move it to the trash pile. In Norristown, the biggest thing you need to know is that we are a "single-streamed recycling" town. What this means is that Mascaro requires no sorting at all. You can combine all recyclable items together and place them in a single recycling container for collection. The only thing they ask is to rinse all items that may have contained food to avoid contamination. Plus, it keeps the rodents from visiting your trash at night.

To make it easy, I have copied the explanation from Norristown.org on what can be placed in recycling:

• Metals: Aluminum cans (beer and soda), aluminum foil and foil plates, metal lids and metal cans
• Glass: glass bottles and jars (food and drink only)
• Plastic containers: bottles and containers labeled #1 through #7 (soda, water, milk, juice, liquor, shampoo, detergent, condiments, salad dressing, yogurt, margarine)
• Mixed paper and cardboard: newspaper, magazines, catalogues, junk mail, envelopes, file folders, corrugated boxes, cereal boxes, gift boxes, paper bags, and phone books

Also, according to the site, you can use any container for recycling. As long as you have a recycling sticker visible on the can, they will collect it. Each homeowner gets one free recycling bin per household, an additional one can be purchased for $15. Also, stickers are available if you wish to convert an old can into a recycling bin. One thing you may have noticed is that plastic bags are also not collected. Local big box stores such as Wal Mart, Shop Rite, Target, and more have vendors that will recycle the bags for you. Mascaro and many other companies across America no longer take plastic bags.

Now let's talk about some facts of recycling in America. The first obvious fact is that it reduces the amount of waste you place on the trash each week. Compared with the rest of the world, America is leading in last place for recycling. Countries like Amsterdam have capitalized on recycling, now facing a crisis of "running out of waste." Keep America Beautiful has also encouraged recycling. Their new campaign highlights that a park bench can now be built by recycling water bottles. Would you rather see park benches or empty bottles in our parks? No brainer!

For more facts on recycling, visit http://americarecyclesday.org/ and don't forget, America Recycles Day is November 15th.

What are your best practices on recycling?

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