Oswego's ECO Commission is hosting its twice-yearly Reuse & Recycle Extravaganza from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
Oswego's not that much of a hike, and for one-stop recycling like this, you can not feel that guilty about the carbon. The event is at Oswego's Public Works Facility, 100 Theodore Drive, Oswego. For cheater directions from Will County, check the bottom of this post.
Plus, if you want to be extra good (and you do), you can volunteer to greet participants, answer questions, direct traffic, unload, sort, and organize all of the items that will be reused/recycled. Even if you stay for just an hour or so, ECO organizers would appreciate it. For info on volunteering, call Alison Giangrasse at (630) 554-3622 or e-mail her t agiangrasse@oswegoil.org.
If you can't work at it, consider this your notice to load up the car. They're taking tons of stuff, including paint, electronics, paper for secure shredding, videos, books, etc. Some of the stuff will be re-used, not just recycled, and you know that's even greener. Plus, if you stop by, you can peruse the books, videos and some other items previous visitors have dropped off. Mmmmm, free and green.
Go to ECO's site to click on the 2009 accept list for a complete list of everything you can take over there. Here's the best part: You load up your car and drive-through to various stations, stopping at the ones that apply to you. Pop the trunk and the volunteers will take items applicable to their station. You don't even have to get out.
Will County does a really nice job with recycling, but you can't beat this comprehensive, drive-through event. If you have trouble getting to the list of what they'll take, e-mail me for a copy of the flier.
The picture above is from the spring event. I worked at it, but you won't see me posting pictures of me. I was red and huffing and puffing. Alison kept trying to send me home, thinking I'd keel over on her. But the man in the photo, holding the box, is near and dear to my heart. He's my dad, ECO commission member Tom Todd.
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Every other Saturday, my dad goes out and collects TVs and electronics on behalf of the commission. They keep tons and tons of electronics out of landfills. Not bad, eh? Lately, my brother's been going, too, offering a lot of muscle. I may or may not work because I have to work at my normal job Saturday. (Someone has to put out the Sunday paper, you know!) But I'll definitely be dropping stuff off for shredding. If you've got a little muscle, consider helping out Saturday.
From Will County, take Route 126 west. At the new Ridge Road extension, turn right (north). At the next light, many miles later, turn left (west) onto Plainfield Road. Right as you hit civilization, the speed limit drops to 35 and you turn right onto Templeton Drive and be able to see the event. Mapquest hasn't found out about the Ridge Road extension yet, so don't let it confuse you.
Julie Todd is the night editor at The Herald News in Joliet. She and her
husband are looking to cut the chemicals and get back to basics -- minus the
granola and hemp clothing. They live in a home they bought last year in
Plainfield, where they're making changes to create their own little patch of
utopia.
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