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I'm sorry to remind you, but the holidays are over.
You have carefully packed away your ornaments and are left with a bare tree that has pine needles littering your floor. What to do?
The City of Keene does not collect Christmas trees, however, the Keene Recycling Center will be recycling Christmas trees. You can bring them to the Recycling Center on Route 12 North anytime Monday to Friday 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. or Saturday 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. The gate attendant will direct you to the brush pile, where they will be ground into a mulch you can use for your garden in the spring. There must be no ornaments, tinsel, tree stands, etc., left on the trees. There is no charge for this service.
While you are up here, bring us the mixed paper you've collected over the holidays, including cardboard, magazines, catalogs, junk mail, gift boxes, newspaper and holiday cards. Holiday cards will be sent to the St. Judes Ranch for Children to be made into new holiday cards. All of these items can be recycled at no charge. Paper products need to be separated to some degree, but it only takes a few minutes and the attendants will be happy to answer any questions you have. The sale of fiber material helps offset operations costs, which keeps disposal costs down. Every little bit helps.
Lately, we continue to have noticed two disturbing trends when processing recyclables. First is an increase in containers that still contain food. This contaminates the recyclables, forcing us to dispose of that material in the landfill. Containers must be rinsed prior to recycling. Second is too many non-paper items are mixed in with paper products, rendering them valueless. Pizza crusts, ribbons, cigarette butts, pork chop bones, candles and many other items are found in the paper boxes all too frequently. This contamination ruins the efforts of the majority of citizens who take the time to separate paper carefully. If you have questions about what goes where, ask.
Charlie says - By now, you should have received your 1998 Keene Recycling Calendar chock full of information about recycling in Keene. If you need additional copies, please call 352-5739.
Duncan Watson is the solid waste coordinator for the Keene Public Works Department.