(Utica, NY – April 2014) April 22 marks the 44th annual Earth Day when people from across the Country join together to participate in events that help improve and protect our environment. In celebration of Earth Day 2014, the Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Authority (the Authority) will be hosting its annual Earth Day events on Saturday, April 19.
The Earth Day events will be held at the Oneida-Herkimer Recycling Center, 80 Leland Avenue Ext., Utica.
The day’s events will include:
- Free Tours of the Recycling Center will be given every 30 minutes from 10 am until 2 pm.
- Free Confidential Paper Shredding in cooperation with CONFIDATA from 10 am until 2 pm—There will be a limit of three (3) boxes of papers/documents per vehicle. Businesses and professional offices are not eligible to participate in this event. Computer discs, tapes and other recording media will also be accepted but must be separated from the paper. All material will be immediately shredded and placed in a collection vehicle for recycling. Residents do not need to remove their name or other personal information from the documents.
- Free Collection & Disposal of Unused Medication and Pharmaceuticals from 10 am until 2 pm in cooperation with the Oneida County Sewer District and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation—Accepted items include expired or unwanted prescriptions/medications (liquid, pill or powder form), over the counter medications & vitamins and veterinary/pet medications.
- Free Backyard Composting Workshop at 11:00 am by Cornell Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Margaret Murphy—the 45-minute workshop will teach the basics of backyard composting of food scraps and yard waste as well as different types of composting methods.
- Bulky Rigid Plastics Drop-Off – Residents can deliver bulky rigid plastic items that cannot be accepted and recycled through curbside recycling at no cost. Bulky rigid plastics are hard plastic items (not film or flexible plastic) such as clean plastic drums, totes and empty garbage cans, clean buckets/pails, plastic toys (i.e. playhouses), plastic lawn furniture and coolers, plastic pallets and shelving, plastic laundry baskets and plastic recycling bins & carts. Bulky rigid plastics cannot be mixed with other plastic recyclables and cannot be set-out with regular curbside recyclables. Pool/chemical containers, driveway sealant containers, Styrofoam and plastic appliances are not accepted under this program.
- Household Hazardous Waste & Electronics Drop-Off—Residents can drop off household hazardous waste and electronic material including; paint, chemicals, electronics and more for proper recycling/disposal from 7:00 am until 2:00 pm at no cost.
- Compost for Purchase—The Authority’s compost has been certified by the US Composting Council under its Seal of Testing Assurance Program as consistent, high-quality compost. This means the Authority’s compost has been tested by third party laboratories to ensure that it meets all state and federal environmental requirements.
Screened, cured compost material will be available for purchase:
*Bagged Price: Bags of compost weigh about 45 pounds each and are $2.00 each, or 3 bags for $5.00
*Pick-up Truck Price: $15.00 per pick-up truck, $20.00 per large pick-up truck
*Bulk Price: $15 per cubic yard loaded in your dump truck
For more information or questions regarding the Authority’s Earth Day events or for a list of other local Earth Day activities, please visit www.ohswa.org or call the Authority’s Administrative Office at 733-1224 ext. 2300. You can also visit the Authority’s Facebook page (Oneida Herkimer Solid Waste Authority) to ask questions and find more information on these topics.