*Sustainable Seekonk*

The Seekonk Recycling Committee would like to remind residents of all the great recycling and sustainability programs and resources we have available in town:

Seekonk Recycling Committee has open seats! We meet monthly to help coordinate resources, education and awareness of sustainability and recycling topics in and around Seekonk. We partner with the library for programming, host a rain barrel or compost bin sale each year, organize the annual Litter Patrol, and help answer questions about what can be recycled and where. If you’re interested in making a difference in the town you live in-please consider joining the committee! We especially need partnership with each of the schools, so if you’re a parent or teacher that wants to help foster sustainability in the schools, we’d love to hear from you.

Seekonk DPW (871 Taunton Ave) has textile collection bins and a Terracycle collection shed in the parking lot, and rechargeable batteries collection bin and eyeglasses collection inside the lobby. They also accept fluorescent light bulbs-including CFL bulbs and tubes under 4ft. These should never go in your curbside bins! Stores like Lowes, Home Depot, Best Buy and Staples also accept most of these items as well. Single use-alkaline batteries, incandescent bulbs and LED bulbs can go in the trash.

Terracycle Recycling Collections The Recycling Committee is partnering with Terracycle to save hundreds of everyday items from the trash and send them in to be recycled into new products. The shed at DPW has bins to deposit items like toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes, deodorant, baby food pouches, air fresheners and much more. See the full list in the DPW lobby, or at www.Facebook.com/SustainableSeekonk  (you do NOT need to have a Facebook account to see the posts on this page!)

Seekonk Transfer Station/TARF (351 Fall River Ave) is open year-round Mon-Fri 8am-3pm for drop off of yard waste (leaves, grass, twigs). Upcoming Bulky Waste drop off days at TARF are May 11, July 12, Aug 10 -buy a pass at DPW for $25 to bring items that are too big to fit in blue bags/curbside trash bins. But please try to pass things along for reuse before trashing them! Bulky Waste pickup continues on the 2nd & 4th Wednesday of each month for furniture and misc bulky items ($5), metal, electronic ($5) & appliance ($12.50) pickup is the 3rd Tuesday, and mattresses ($65) are the 3rd Wednesday. Buy stickers at DPW.

Food Waste Compost Collection at TARF: The Recycling Committee is sponsoring a collection bin at TARF from Black Earth Compost, residents can bring their household food waste and deposit in the bins. Accepted items include fruits & vegetables, eggshells, bread, cereal, meat & bones, wooden chopsticks & toothpicks, coffee grinds & filters and more. See www.BlackEarthCompost.com for a full list and tips on collection and transport. You can dump food waste directly into the bins from your home container or use certified compostable bags-no plastic bags please! Please reach out to the Recycling Coordinator at DPW for more information about this program.

Interested in a Recycling Audit? The Recycling Committee is offering appointments for committee members to stop by your home and go over items in your bin to ensure the correct items are going where they should go. We know it’s hard to keep track of what items are recyclable or not-so we’d like to help in real time with real items that you use every day. No shame-just learning! Reach out to the Recycling Coordinator at DPW or the Recycling Committee on Facebook to book your appointment.

Don’t Trash It! Consider donating items that are still usable-Savers in North Attleboro has easy drive up drop off service, Angel’s Care Closet takes a wide variety of items, or you can visit www.DONATIONTOWN.ORG  for a list of local services that will pick up items from your home. If items are broken or no longer usable, stores like Staples, Lowes, Home Depot and Best Buy take back all kinds of electronics, bulbs, ink/toner, batteries, cell phone cases, pens and markers and more. Use the Recycle Locator at CTA.tech website to find all your nearby options for electronics. If you’re interested in a town wide CURB ALERT Day-where everyone can put out items for free and you can plan to drive around to “shop” for items you want or need, please reach out to the Recycling Committee, our Recycling Coordinator at DPW, or Sustainable Seekonk on Facebook.

The Library of Things- did you know the Seekonk Library has way more than books? With things like karaoke machines, metal detectors, stud finders, instruments, cameras, computers & more, it's an amazing way to borrow what you need & save money! What items would you like to see added? Reach out to the Recycling Coordinator at DPW, or the library with ideas.

Trash or Recycling Questions? We’re partnering with the Seekonk Public Library to host the program ‘Waste Not, Want Not: Seekonk Recycling Updates’ on Thu July 25th at 6:30pm. The new contract begins July 1. Stop by to get an update on what's accepted, managing your collection bins and any other recycling questions. You'll also find out about recycling options in our community beyond the curbside bins. For those who may be new to the PAYT (Pay As You Throw) model- the annual bill you pay is for the collection of your trash each week, and the Blue Bags are how you pay for the actual trash.

Annual Hazardous Waste Collection Day Hosted by the Seekonk Board of Health, this collection event has been scheduled for Saturday July 27th from 9-11 AM-keep an eye on the town website for registration and more information about items accepted.

Recycling Tip of The Month: You may have heard that our annual trash bills are going up, partly because of paying for recycling-but it’s important to realize that the cost of processing recyclables is still lower than processing those same materials as trash-and the more we recycle correctly (cleaner materials, less contamination, only the correct items in your bins) the less we have to pay to process them, because of the rebates that come back when the materials are able to be sold for recycling. Please remember to recycle right, and…. Reduce-Reuse-Recycle (in THAT order!)