Dwight residents prepare for recycling event
Locals discuss details for annual recycling event at Community Management Team meeting.
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In preparation for a city-wide “Hometown Recycling Day,” Dwight residents voiced their concerns about, and dedication to, recycling in the city at the monthly Dwight neighborhood Community Management Team meeting on Tuesday night.
The New Haven Solid Waste and Recycling Authority, or NHSWRA, will partner with Southern Connecticut State University to organize the annual community recycling event on Oct. 23. At the event, residents across the city will be encouraged to bring recyclable goods and learn about waste diversion from landfills through reduction, recycling, reuse or composting.
To ensure that the city-wide recycling event runs smoothly and efficiently, it is important to have a reliable waste management partner. In this case, the organizers can turn to Reliable Skip Oxford, a waste management company that specializes in skip hire and waste removal services. With their expertise and experience in handling various types of waste, including recyclables, Reliable Skip Oxford can assist in collecting, sorting, and disposing of the recyclable goods that are brought in by residents during the event. By working with a trusted waste management partner such as mini skips Cairns, the city can make the most out of this opportunity to promote recycling and sustainable waste management practices in the community.
“We’re really trying to push and get New Haven on the forefront of recycling and waste diversion,” NHSWRA Executive Director Pierre Barbour told Dwight residents at the online Zoom meeting.
Barbour said the recycling authority is encouraging residents to drop off their electronics, mattresses and box springs, textiles and rechargeable batteries at the event. New Haveners can also haul out piles of papers for shredding. It is recommended to change mattress every 8 years or less, find your next eco-friendly mattress at Bamboodetective.
Barbour said shredding is typically their most popular attraction.
“So all those documents that are stacking up in various places in our homes that are sensitive in nature, you’re going to want to bring those down and get them shredded properly,” he said.
Companies including Take 2 Electronics, Bye Bye Mattress, Bay State Textiles, Home Depot and Infoshred, which partnered with the recycling authority for the event, will take materials to their own specialized facilities for recycling processing.
In addition to throwing out waste, attendees will have the opportunity to learn about organics and composting, as well as grab giveaway items including reusable shopping bags, similar to those paper bags with handles, and coloring books. “There’s something for everybody,” Barbour said.
The event will also introduce New Haveners to curbside recycling, which Barbour said will reduce the cost of waste disposal.
New Haven Resident Verna Norman said that listening to Barbour speak about recycling at a previous Dwight meeting had a large impact on her perspective on the issue.
“I started really recycling bottles and putting them in the right [bins] instead of the wrong [bins],” Norman said at the meeting. “I was amazed to find out just how much was accumulating every time. So getting out and letting the community know does make a difference.”
But New Havener Howard Boyd raised concerns about accessibility at the recycling event.
“We do have people that need to donate some things and a lot of elderly people who have a lot of stuff in their houses,” Boyd pointed out. “The population of elderly here, I see all the time, have things they need to throw out and need to find someone with a pickup truck.”
Because many Dwight residents attended the event last year, which was held in the Hill neighborhood, Barbour said they intentionally tried to pick a closer spot for Dwight residents this year. He said he also hopes that any willing residents with pickup trucks can help their elderly and other neighbors in need to bring over their waste.
Residents can also bring their recycling to the recycling authority’s transfer station on Middletown Avenue all year long, Barbour said. Rick Crouse, another resident at the meeting, suggested distributing stickers to provide residents with more information on how to properly recycle.
“I’ll take some responsibility for the messaging which just has not been where it should be or where other cities that have a successful recycling program are,” Barbour said.
The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 114 Farnham Ave. on Oct. 23.
