APRIL 12, 2019 BY 

YVSC Talking Green Column

from the Steamboat Pilot & Today, April 7, 2019

With Earth Day coming up on April 22, it’s a great time to think about reducing your impact on the environment. Recycling is one of the easiest daily actions you can take to shrink your carbon footprint and help fight climate change.

But, recycling can be confusing, and this confusion leads to contamination — things in the bin that shouldn’t be — a problem that is plaguing recycling programs in communities nationwide.

To help increase our community’s recycling rates and clean up our recyclables, Yampa Valley Sustainability Council recently launched a new online resource to help take the guesswork out of what goes in your recycling bin.

With the free Yampa Valley Recycles app, you can search hundreds of items from your phone, tablet or computer. The app tells you what can and cannot be recycled and where to take something if it is recyclable.

This searchable database spans traditional recyclables, like paper, plastic, aluminum and glass, as well as hard-to-recycle items, like electronics, plastic bags, appliances, lightbulbs, paint and more. To use the app, simply download it from your device’s app store or visit yampavalleyrecycles.org.

The Yampa Valley Recycles app also offers a fun waste sorting game for kids and adults to test their recycling knowledge. Both the game and search feature are available in Spanish.

With the coming of spring, it’s time to clear out the growing piles of stuff in your garage and make room for summer gear. For the second year in a row, the Sustainability Council is offering a spring Recycling Drop-Off to responsibly recycle everything from skis to electronics at one convenient event.

What: Recycling Drop-Off
When: Residential drop-off is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.; business is 1:30 to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 11
Where: Steamboat Springs High School parking lot, 45 Maple St. and Steamboat Springs Middle School, 39610 Amethyst Drive

This year’s drop-off is on Saturday, May 11. The residential drop-off is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and business is 1:30 to 3 p.m. Please note the new location for the event: Electronics will be collected in the Steamboat Springs High School parking lot, and all other materials, including yard waste, mattresses, batteries, lightbulbs, books, appliances, clothing, shoes and more, will be collected at the Steamboat Springs Middle School.

Participants are highly-encouraged to visit yvsc.org/recyclingdropoff for a full list of items collected, fees, payment methods and maps.

If you’re going to be out of town for the spring Recycling Drop-Off, don’t worry. You can use the new Yampa Valley recycles app to find local recycling options for hard-to-recycle items that are available year-round.

Anne Mudgett is the communications and development director for the Yampa Valley Sustainability Council.