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July 2020

C e n t r e R e g i o n C o u n c i l o f G o v e r n m e n t s R e f u s e & R e c y c l i n g

Centre Region COG

(814) 234-7198

Email: recycler@crcog.net

www.crcog.net/refuse

30889-I-0147 30% Post-Consumer Content

DATES TO NOTE

Holidays in 2020:

Labor Day

September 7

Thanksgiving Day November 26

Christmas Day December 25

If your pickup day

falls on or after any of these dates, there will

be a one-day delay.

July 4 no change in service

that week

Other Dates:

Household

Hazardous Waste Collection @ CCRRA November 20—21

Fall Bulk

Waste Week October 12—16

National Pennsylvania

Day July 20

https://www.facebook.com/CentreRegionCOG

REFUSE AND RECYCLING IN UNCERTAIN TIMES

Back in March, we could not predict what would change for the Centre Region’s waste collection. We did not mail out the newsletter with your refuse invoices because we did not know if trash or recycling would continue to be collected, if bulk waste week would need to be cancelled, or if we would have to make other changes in dealing with residential solid waste. We did have to make some changes, cancellations, and accommodations along the way, and our residential customers responded with grace and style! Across the nation, folks in the solid waste industry have been reporting huge surges in the waste collected during state shut-downs. Why? Well, lots of people—and their kids—were home all day. We ordered more take-out food and packages. We cleaned out our closets and garages and basements because, well, we were home all day. And many, many areas saw their recycling suspended, like we did here in Centre County, and often folks had few options beyond placing those recyclables in the trash. Municipalities across Pennsylvania reported an increase in trash volume of up to 40%. Advanced Disposal drivers for the COG reported a lot more bags at the curb (and during the stay-at-home order they ignored bag limits, by the way). And our volume did increase, although not nearly as much as it seemingly did elsewhere!

When recycling was suspended, we asked residents to hang on to their recyclables. Clearly, many of you did. Take a look at the

amount of recycling collected after the suspension ended in May!

The Centre County Recycling and Refuse Authority, in cooperation with municipalities, Centre Region Parks and other entities, estab-

lished 18 additional recycling drop-off sites. And residents used these drop-off containers. A lot! We owe our thanks to the drivers of the refuse and recycling trucks for all they did to keep us safe by taking care of our solid waste during these uncertain times. But we should also be proud of how well we adapted to changing conditions while continuing to keep our trash volumes as low as we could and recycling as much as possible. Great job, Centre Region residents! And thank you!

THANK YOU To all Essential Workers!

This includes all those working in solid waste collection and management too!

No grass clippings will be collected with your trash.

Take grass clippings to:

Spring Creek Park (parking lot area off Balmoral Way)

GOH Recycling Center 110 Hawbaker Industrial Drive

Ferguson Township

Municipal Building 3147 Research Drive (second parking lot)

Or try Grasscycling!

Benner Township Spring and Fall Brush and Fall Leaves

By Appointment Only

College Township Monthly Brush March – Dec;

Spring and Fall Leaves (one time each season)

Ferguson Township Monthly Brush and Leaves

April – December

Harris Township Spring and Fall Brush (one time each season);

Weekly Leaves, Oct. – Dec.

Patton Township Monthly Brush and Leaves

Check out our cool video on preparing your yard waste:

www.crcog.net/refuse

To recycle for compost, take it to:

GOH Recycling Center

110 Hawbaker Industrial Drive

272-0008

To

You can set out bags or bundles of garden waste and brush in place of the

same number of bags of trash.

But...

these bags go straight to the landfill.

What to do with yard and garden waste

Grass Clippings

Drop Off

Brush and Leaf Waste

Collected by your township

Garden Waste (no leaves, no brush)

Reduce Your

Food Waste!

A PSU study recently

found that house-

holds in the U.S.

waste nearly a third

of the food they buy.

That’s bad news for

our environment

AND

for your wallet!

Learn how to reduce

your food waste at

www.crcog.net/ refuse

or go to our

Food for Thought

website:

https://sites.google.

com/view/

foodforthought-cog

Home Composting Made Simple

1. Build or buy a compost bin. There are so many options.

2. Build your pile by alternating “browns” such as leaves with “greens”

such as fruit & vegetable scraps and grass.

3. Keep it moist and turn it once in a while.

Learn more at https://extension.psu. edu/home-

composting-a-guide-for-home-gardeners

Take a class in Backyard Composting! It’s an hour-long class at Millbrook Marsh Nature Center, and the COG gives every participant an Earth Machine composter! We have two classes scheduled: Wednesday, Sept. 2 6:30—7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12, 2—3 p.m.

Register for a class at: https://www.crpr.org/mmnc/public-programs

Why sending this waste to the landfill is a problem:

Yard, garden, and food

wastes are all organic mat-

ter. Organic material in the

landfill releases methane as

it anaerobically decomposes.

The Environmental Protection

Agency has determined that

methane has 28 times more

global warming potential

than CO2.

And landfills contain a lot of

organic matter! The chart

below shows the contents of

U.S. landfills from a 2017

study of over 2400 sites.

Composting—an aerobic

process—reduces methane

production by keeping a lot

of organic matter out of land-

fills. The materials collected

by municipalities and grass

drop offs are all composted.

On this page we give you

some ways to reduce, reuse,

and recycle your organic

waste!

Learn more at

www.crcog.net/refuse

Grasscycling Grasscycling is the simple practice of

leaving grass clippings right on your lawn.

Grasscycling:

• Encourages a healthier lawn by returning nutrients to the

soil and by helping to retain moisture.

• Reduces your work: no raking, bagging, or carting away.

• Benefits the environment by naturally recycling the

clippings and decreasing fertilizers and watering.

Here’s how: Just follow the “1/3 Rule”: Mow often enough so

that no more than 1/3 of the length of the grass is cut at a

time. Or use a mulching mower. It’s that simple!

(And did you know that leafcycling is good for your lawn too?)