Montgomery County Recycles More Than Any Other Place in Maryland

County officials hope to recycle 70 percent of all waste by the year 2020.

How much of what Montgomery County residents throw away ends up in landfills? Less than half, according to data from the Maryland Department of the Environment, which ranked the county first in recycling. The rate of recycling in the county (57.68 percent) and waste diversion (62.68 percent) is higher than any other jurisdiction, a release from county government reported.  County Executive Isiah Leggett credited the recycling program's comprehensiveness—available to apartment dwellers, home owners and businesses equally—for the success. "This recycling achievement is also due to the keen awareness about the importance of reducing waste and recycling more, and the outstanding commitment and continued efforts of everyone living, working and …

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County Offers Christmas Tree Recycling

Mulch from county recycled trees can be picked up in February.

Christmas has passed, and for some the ever-green decorations of holiday cheer are devolving into a drab-brown, needle-dropping mess. Take charge of the situation before your happiness starts drooping along with the ornaments. Montgomery County residents can recycle Christmas trees through February. Trees should be placed on the curb by 7 a.m. on the day of your regular recycling schedule. All decorations should be removed from the tree prior to collection. Trees with root balls are considered “live” and cannot be collected as part of the county’s regular recycling program. Artificial trees will not be collected, but can be donated to area charities. After collection, the trees are shredded into mulch that will be available in February and…

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Fran Asbeck

7:09 am on Friday, December 28, 2012

Christmas has NOT passed. Christmas is not over till Twelfth Night, January 6th. Remember the song, Twelve Days of Christmas? Do the math. Leave the trees up till then. (I should talk; I don't put up a tree at all.)   more ›

Holidays 2012: Recycle Lights, Phones and Coats; Donate New Toys

Do you have items you no longer need? A number of holiday collections are underway and items can be easily donated at one location. Find out more!

Are you buying a new winter jacket? Do you have holiday lights that no longer work? Did your kids get duplicate toys this year? Did Santa bring you a new cell phone? If you have items you’d like to toss but aren’t sure what to do with them, a number of collections are taking place in Montgomery County and items can be dropped off right at the Salvation Army at 18705 North Frederick Avenue in Gaithersburg, MD. You can also drop off items at Goodwill of Greater Washington at 619 South Frederick Avenue in Gaithersburg or 4816 Boiling Brook Parkway in Rockville.  Have any unwrapped, unused toys? They can be donated to Toys for Tots in 2013. If you have coats you no longer need, donations are being collected through many local churches. Cell …

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Montgomery County Expands Recycling Program

Don't throw that away! Common food packaging items can now be recycled since the county has decided to accept this type of plastic.

The tubs of hummus, the domes that cover your cupcakes, the catering trays and the clamshell containers from the deli down the street--all of these would have been destined for the garbage just last week. But on Thursday, Montgomery County announced that it would begin accepting #1 PET plastic items in its recycling program. To identify which PET, or polyethylene terephthalate, items qualify, check for the #1 on or near the bottom of the container, or look at these photo examples. For a refresher on which items to place in which recycling bins (the one you roll or the one that looks like a rectangular basket), see the helpful breakdown on the county's website. The #1 PET containers go in the basket.

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Green Living in Germantown

Five Tips for an Eco-Friendly Christmas

Christmas is a great time to nurture both people and the planet.

In Germantown, holidays and recycling go hand-in-hand. Montgomery County has a comprehensive recycling program, where you can unload used wrapping paper, greeting cards, cardboard shipping boxes, live wreaths and even your live Christmas tree.  Looking for more ways to make Christmas environmentally friendly? Try these five tips to add some additional Christmas "green": After dinner, take that extra slice of pie to a needy neighbor.  But what if you have an entire pie left over?  Bring it to Shepherd's Table or the Men's Emergency Shelter.  Shepherd's Table, at 8210 A Colonial Lane in Silver Spring, serves meals to the hungry each day from 6 to 7:30 p.m.  On Christmas Day, you can bring in donations of food between 1 and 5:30 p.m.  For …

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Green Living in Germantown

Seneca Valley High School Puts the Green in the Green & Gold

Teacher Mary Morgan uses recycling and energy conservation to teach her students math and English.

"In one year, one grocery store can go through six million paper bags. It takes over 85 hundred trees. Always use reusable bags when shopping and save some trees." – from a Seneca Valley High School Public Service Announcement  This Monday, November 15, 2010, is America Recycles Day. But students in Mary Morgan's classes at Seneca Valley High School don't need a specific day to celebrate. They work throughout the school year to promote recycling and energy awareness. Since the fall of 2008, Morgan has used these topics to teach remedial math and English. "We begin our work by doing research on energy conservation and recycling facts. We find the most interesting facts and figures and turn that into scripts. And then we design public …

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Did you ever wonder ....

... if you can recycle Styrofoam peanuts?

Find out how to recycle your Styrofoam peanuts here.

  This week's question is: Can you recycle Styrofoam peanuts? Answer: All the little foam pieces that come in most packaging are actually technically referred to as polystyrene. Unfortunatly, no place in Germantown takes or recycles Styrofoam. However here are the three closest places where you can drop off your used Styrofoam in Maryland:    Visit http://www.loosefillpackaging.com/ListMembers.asp or call the Peanuts hotline (yes there is one) at 800-828-2214 to find more drop-off locations in Maryland.