A weekly column by Duncan Watson, solid waste coordinator for the city of Keene, N.H.
With tips by Charles R. "Charlie" Beauregard, a longtime Swanzey, N.H. planning board member.
Purging the clutter from your life is a truly satisfying exercise. Being part of a collective purging is downright empowering. Such is the case in the "Clean Out Your Files" day scheduled for Wed., April 22nd. (Incidentally, this is also Earth Day.) To be a part of this nationwide event is simple. The results of your participation will be dramatic.
You, yes you, have the opportunity to rally support for workplace recycling programs throughout the city, while significantly increasing the amount of office paper recovered for recycling.
President Clinton has established a goal to increase office paper recovery to 65 percent by the year 2000 by maximizing recycling and minimizing waste. Nationwide about 47 percent of office paper is being recycled. However, since offices purchase most of the nation's paper, the increase from 47 percent to 65 percent can make a significant contribution toward changing the environment at work.
To participate in Clean Out Your Files Day is easy. Simply commit yourself to spending a little time cleaning out those files that contain dated or unneeded information. Remove any reusable items such as rubber bands and paper clips and place the paper for recycling in some type of container. Bring the paper to the Keene Recycling Center on Route 12 North Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. or Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. We have a designated area to receive mixed paper; place the paper in that area and we'll take care of the rest.
Don't limit your efforts to office paper. You can purge unwanted paper materials from your home as well. Junk mail, stationery, envelopes, catalogs, magazines, cardboard and boxboard can all be recycled easily at the Keene Recycling Center.
Maybe you can plan on coming up on Saturday, April 25th. The Keene recycling center will be sponsoring a household hazardous waste collection for Keene residents at the same time at the same location. Go through your home or office, collect unwanted paper materials for recycling and, on the same trip, you can dispose of unwanted products such as oil based paint, pesticides and toxic cleaners. The entire process won't take more than 15 minutes.
Do you have an old thermostat in your home that you no longer use? It probably contains mercury which should be disposed of properly through a hazardous waste collection. Bring it up on April 25th for the first collection of 1998.
Note: Charlie says - "Thanks to your efforts in the past two years we have prevented over 23,000 gallons of hazardous waste from being improperly disposed of."
Swanzey, NH