Extremely Very Good Recyclers Awarded a Tree

Pictured are the BWC July campers next to their new tree.  Together they collected over 308 plastic bottles for recycling during their four-day camp.

DALTON, GA – Camp participants at the Bradley Wellness Center in Dalton won their very own real tree for collecting more than 100 plastic bottles for recycling during their four-day camp this July.   The Dalton Tree Board donated a Japanese Maple Red Dragon, which they planted near the tennis courts at the Bradley Wellness Center.  It now joins the tree that previous campers won during the month of June for their recycling efforts.

Liz Swafford, Recycling and Education Program Coordinator for the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority, launched the summer recycling contest on the first day of camp with a showing of the children’s television show episode “Look After Your Planet”.  The show is based on the book “We Are Extremely Very Good Recyclers” and features characters created by Lauren Child named Charlie and Lola.  Campers learned about the importance of recycling and just like in the video received a Tree Counter poster they could use to keep track of how many plastic bottles they recycled.  By the end of the camp participants had collected over 308 plastic bottles for recycling, filled up the tree counter, and earned their own tree.

Students Recycle Over Half a Million Pounds

Pictured is Recycling Ben congratulating Dawnville Elementary School students for their recycling efforts that earned them a heavy duty recycling cart last year.

Students at Cedar Ridge Elementary School learned about recycling during a visit from Recycling Ben and Liz Swafford from the Target Recycling at School program.  They discussed why recycling is important, what happens to the items collected for recycling, and what students could recycle at school and at home.

Students at Dug Gap Elementary School learned about trees and paper recycling during a visit from Recycling Ben and Liz Swafford from the Target Recycling at School program.

Third graders from Brookwood Elementary took a tour of the Recycling Center and Landfill managed by the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority.  As part of their visit they learned about trees, an important natural resource, and paper recycling.

DALTON, GA – Students from Whitfield County Public Schools, Dalton Public Schools, and two local private schools collected 627,632 pounds of materials for recycling during the 2010 – 2011 school year with Target Recycling at School. The 314 tons collected is the weight equivalent of 179 compact cars and reflects an increase of 25% over the last school year. If only aluminum cans were collected, students would have recycled the weight equivalent of 21,814,300 cans.

Recyclables collected at the thirty-four participating schools include mixed paper products, and where available, plastic bottles and aluminum cans. Recycling is the process of taking a product at the end of its useful life and using all or part of it to create new products. As a result, recycling helps conserve our natural resources. For example, recycling 2,000 pounds of paper can save 60,000 gallons of water.

Target Recycling at School is a free program for schools in Whitfield County, Georgia providing environmental education and collection of recyclables. Each year a School Recycling Contest is held and the top recycling schools are recognized. Every quarter the school with the highest recycling rate receives a custom award that will help improve their recycling program or beautify the campus. At the end of the school year the top three schools for the entire year are announced. Awards are given out at the beginning of the following school year.

For the 2010 – 2011 school year the winners are:

First Place: Pleasant Grove Elementary School

Second Place: New Hope Middle School

Third Place: Fort Hill Complex

Honorable mention goes to the Learning Tree School, and Dug Gap Elementary School, which were part of the top five schools for the year.

Target Recycling at School is a program managed by the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority. For more information call Recycling and Education Coordinator, Liz Swafford at 706-278-5001 or the Target Recycling at School page on their website.

Camp Goers Are Extremely Very Good Recyclers

Pictured are the BWC June campers next to their new tree. Together they collected over 250 plastic bottles for recycling during their four-day camp.

Campers see their group’s tree for the first time. The Dalton Tree Board donated a Japanese Maple Red Dragon and planted it along the walking track near the tennis courts at the Bradley Wellness Center.

Pictured is the Tree Counter poster that the campers used to keep track of their recycling. Each leaf represents one plastic bottle. They exceeded their goal of collecting 100 plastic bottles during the four-day camp in June.

 DALTON, GA – Camp participants at the Bradley Wellness Center in Dalton won their very own real tree for collecting more than 100 plastic bottles for recycling during their four-day camp this June. The Dalton Tree Board donated a Japanese Maple Red Dragon, which they planted near the tennis courts at the Bradley Wellness Center.

Liz Swafford, Recycling and Education Program Coordinator for the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority, launched the summer recycling contest on the first day of camp with a reading of the book “We Are Extremely Very Good Recyclers” which features characters created by Lauren Child named Charlie and Lola. The group learned about the importance of recycling and just like in the book received a Tree Counter poster they could use to keep track of how many plastic bottles they recycled. By the end of the camp participants had collected over 250 plastic bottles for recycling, filled up the tree counter, and earned their own tree.

Community Pride Day on April 16, 2011

Annual Bulky Waste and Electronics Collection Day for Whitfield County

DALTON, GA – Community Pride Day during the Great American Cleanup will be on Saturday, April 16 from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm.  Community Pride Day facilitates Spring Cleaning by inviting Whitfield county residents to dispose of bulky items and electronics without paying disposal fees at select drop-off locations.  The Old Dixie Hwy. Landfill and Convenience Center is the Main Location for this event.  Community Locations include three middle schools, Westside Middle School, Eastbrook Middle School, and North Whitfield Middle School.

To download the event ad, click on the image to the left.

All four locations will be accepting bulky items for disposal and electronics for recycling.  Bulky items include furniture, household equipment, and appliances.  Electronics include computers, digital cameras, cell phones, printers, scanners, and laptops.  There is a limit of one television accepted per vehicle.  Small electronics collected this year will benefit the 2011 Relay for Life of Whitfield County.

The Old Dixie Landfill and Convenience Center is the only location accepting Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) that includes household pesticides, pool chemicals, varnish and latex paints.  For a complete list of HHW please visit www.DWSWA.org or call 706-277-2545.

Community Pride Day is open to residents of Whitfield County only.  Only residential or household waste will be accepted.  No business, commercial, construction or demolition waste is accepted.  Tires are not included in this event and should be disposed of at a Convenience Center for a minimal fee.  Household hazardous waste and tires will not be accepted at the school locations.

If you are unable to attend the event this year, please keep in mind that Household Hazardous Waste is accepted at the Old Dixie Landfill and Convenience Center on the third Saturday of the month from 7 am to 2 pm.  Electronics are accepted year round at the same location, Monday thru Friday 7 am to 6 pm, and Saturday 7 am to 3 pm.

Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful, the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority, and Whitfield County Public Works organize this annual event.  For more information or to volunteer, call Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful at 706-226-6211, visit www.keepdaltonwhitfieldbeautiful.org, or e-mail lswafford@dwswa.org.

City of Dalton Curbside Recycling Increases in 2010

DALTON, GA - During 2010 the City of Dalton Curbside Recycling program increased the amount of materials collected for recycling in by 8% compared to 2009. Participating Dalton residents collected 1,088 tons or 2,175,800 pounds from January to December 2010 making it the largest amount collected on record. In fact, it was the second year in a row that over 2 million pounds of recyclables were collected through the Curbside Recycling program. Items accepted for recycling include mixed paper, cardboard, plastic bottles and jugs with the #1 and #2 recycling symbol, aluminum beverage cans, bi-metal food cans, and glass bottles and jars.

On Monday, February 21, 2011, during the City Council meeting at City Hall representatives from the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority (DWSWA) recognized City of Dalton residents and the City of Dalton Public Works Department for their outstanding results. “Recycling reduces waste and pollution, saves energy, conserves our natural resources, and is good for our economy.” said Liz Swafford, Recycling and Education Program Coordinator for the DWSWA. “One third of plastic bottles with the #1 recycling symbol collected in the US are used in Georgia carpet manufacturing. Fibers created from plastic #1 can be used to make clothing and other items like these shoelaces, which read, ‘I used to be a soda bottle’.” Target Recycling program mascot Recycling Ben distributed the recycled shoelaces to the attendees during the presentation.

Norman Barashick, Executive Director of the DWSWA, presented two awards made with recycled blue glass. Mayor Pennington and Councilwoman Wood accepted the award on behalf of the residents. Public Works Director, Benny Dunn, Operations Manager, Reece Carroll, and Foreman, Tim Cruse accepted the award on behalf of the Public Works Department. The drivers of the Curbside recycling trucks, Dwayne Carvelle, Glen Gambrell, and Derek Bagley, were also recognized for being the ones that get the job done on a daily basis. It’s estimate that together they handle more than 4,000 recycling bins per week.

The City of Dalton’s Curbside Recycling program began in 1991. 2010 marked 19 years of environmental stewardship thru recycling. Today, the City of Dalton provides one of the few curbside recycling programs in Northwest Georgia. In 2003 the Curbside Recycling program began delivering its recyclable materials for processing to the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority. The Authority operates a Materials Recovery Facility or recycling center which sorts, processes, and markets the materials. Since that time, the amount of recyclables collected by residents has almost doubled.

If you live in a single family home or duplex of three units or less with in the city limits you may qualify for Curbside Recycling. Call the Public Works Department at 706-278-7077 to participate or to request an additional blue recycling bin. If you have more than one bin, please put the fiber materials, such as paper, cardboard, and newspaper, in one bin and everything else in the other.

For more information about recycling in Whitfield County visit www.DWSWA.org or contact Liz Swafford, Recycling and Education Program Coordinator, at 706-278-5001.