Recycle Your Christmas Tree

E.J. Harrison & Sons and the City of Ventura make it easy for you to recycle your Christ-

mas tree.All you need to do is remove the orna-

ments, hooks, lights, tinsel, bows, nails and tree stand. Cut the tree into four-foot sec-tions and place in your yard waste barrel on your scheduled pickup day.

Please remember, however, that fl ocked trees cannot be recycled.

Trees we collect will be processed into various sizes of mulch. The ma-terial is used by Agromin to make several products that benefi t our farmlands, orchards, nurseries and our own gardens.

Extra Trash Allowed After Holidays

Residents may put out twice the amount of trash at no extra charge during the two weeks following

Christmas. Please make sure the trash is in bags. We also collect extra recyclables, but please make sure to fl atten all boxes.

Holiday Wishes to AllThe Harrison family wishes one and all a

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. There is no time more fi tting to thank our customers and communities. We are proud of the service we have provided you through the years, and are committed to maintain the high-est level of service for you in 2009, and beyond. We are thankful for the continued long life of our mother Myra, who along with our father E.J. founded our company in 1932 and instilled in us the importance of family, hard work and giving back to the community. She joins us in wishing you a wonderful season and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

Myron, Jim and Ralph Harrison

Green Holiday Ideas to Trim ‘Wasteline’During the last quarter of the

year, when we celebrate several holidays, an extra 25 percent of waste is generated. To trim your wasteline, try a couple of “Green Holiday” ideas:

❈ Be creative with gift-wrap. Put items in a reusable cloth bag or wrap in a holiday tea towel.

❈ Buy low-energy LED lights, recharge-able batteries and look for the EnergyStar logo on large electronic items.

❈ Recycle all non-foil holiday wrap, greet-ing cards and boxes.

❈ Give gift certifi cates, tickets, member-ships or make a donation to a favorite charity in someone’s name.

❈ Consider consumable gifts.❈ Look for recycled-content materials

such as Ecospun made from recycled plastic bottles. It is used in many clothing items.

❈ Consider a compost or worm bin for the garden enthusiast.

❈ Plan holiday menus carefully to avoid excess leftovers and waste, or send the left-overs home with your guests.

❈ Remember to recycle all beverage containers, aluminum foil, tin cans, glass jars, cracker boxes, gift boxes, envelopes and all non-electronic greeting cards. Remember cards that play music are considered House-hold Hazardous Waste.

❈ Use packing peanuts made from cornstarch instead of Styrofoam. They can be re-used and then safely dissolved in water.

Trash Recycling News for Ventura Residents

Winter 2008Flash

Page 2Winter 2008 Trash Flash

New ‘Sharps’ LawNearly 400 million medical

“sharps” such as hypodermic needles, pen needles, IV needles, lancets and other devices that are used to penetrate the skin to deliver medi-cation are disposed of each year in California alone. On September 1, 2008, Senate Bill 1305 went into effect banning “sharps” from trash and recycling containers.

Many people who are “at-home injectors” may be unaware of this new law. Improper disposal of these items presents a great health risk to the public as well as sanitation and sewage treatment workers, janitors, housekeepers, or even animals and marine life and the environment. If you or someone in your family uses “sharps” at home, here are ways you can properly dispose of them. Remember all sharps must now be transported in an approved sharps container only.

Ventura County Public Health Clinic at 3147 Loma Vista Road has sharps containers. They will take back sharps in an approved sharps container only. Contact them at 652-5754 for more information.

West Ventura Medical Clinic at 133 W. Santa Clara (Garden St. parking lot entrance) has containers and will take back sharps in an approved sharps container only. Contact them at 641-5600 for more information.

The City of Ventura’s monthly (except December) Household Hazardous Waste Collection Events will take sharps in an approved sharps container. For 2009 event days, call 652-4525 or check the “Household Hazardous Waste” tab at www.venturasenvironment.com.

Check with your local pharmacy to see if they sell approved sharps containers.

For a list of approved convenient Mail-Back servic-es, check the California Department of Public Health website at http://www.cdph.ca.gov/certlic/medical-waste/Pages/MailBackSharps.aspx.

edicalpodermic needles, that

Holiday Schedule 2009

Looking ahead, these are the holidays that will delay trash collection one

day:New Year’s Day Thursday, Jan. 1Memorial Day Monday, May 25 Labor Day Monday, Sept. 7Thanksgiving Thursday, Nov. 26Christmas Friday, Dec. 25

these are the holidays that will not delay trash collection one day:

Martin Luther King Jr. Day Monday, Jan. 19

Presidents’ Day Monday, Feb. 16Independence Day Saturday, July 4

Veterans’ Day Monday, Nov. 11

Pay Bills On LineYou can now pay your

bills on line with a cred-it card or e-check. It’s easy. Go to www.ejharrison.com and check out your payment options.

Keep Trash & Recyclables Inside Your Barrels

A friendly reminder: On the days that your trash and recycling barrels are

full, please do not place extra materials at the curbside next to them. Since we have converted our fl eet to all-automated trucks, our goal is to keep our drivers behind the wheel and moving.

If you have ex-tra trash (there is a charge) or recyclables (no charge) for us to collect, please make prior arrangements by calling our offi ce at 647-1414.

Trash FlashPage 3

Winter 2008

No Drugs Down the DrainFor a long time, we were told to fl ush old medica-

tion down the drain. Now we fi nd these drugs can-not be processed at the wastewater treatment plants and are showing up in our drinking water. Until there are pharmaceutical take-back programs in place, the recommended method to safely dispose of medications is to mix pills with coffee grounds or other trash items and put in a sealed plastic bag. Liquids, such as old cough syrup, may be poured into kitty litter, scooped up and put into a sealed plastic bag. These bags can then be thrown into the trash. Narcotics can be taken to a police station for disposal.

Electronics RecyclingAre you getting a new TV for

the holidays or need to get rid of that old one in the garage or one that isn’t compatible with the new digital technology? You can recycle the old television, com-puter monitor, cell phone, radios, ipods or other electronic devices at Gold Coast Recy-cling for no cost to City of Ventura residents. Please bring proof of residency (driver’s license or utility bill) to take advantage of this service.

Waste Barrel RulesIn compliance with City of Ventura Municipal Code

Section 6.500.150, please remember not to put your waste barrels out at the curb any earlier than 4 p.m. the day before collection. Likewise, all barrels must be removed from the place of collection prior to 8 p.m. the day the containers have been emptied.

To give the arm on the automated truck room to work, please be sure there is at least three feet be-tween the carts and six feet clearance from vehicles, mailboxes, utility poles or anything else that could be in the way of the collection truck. Section 6.500.160 of the Municipal Code also specifi es that in a residen-tial area, the containers cannot be stored where they would be visible from a public street. Thank you for helping keep our streets and sidewalks safe and clean.

2-3 ft.2-3 ft.

Practice Extreme Recycling in the New Year

E.J. Harrison & Sons, Inc., is happy to offer additional recycling services for

Ventura residents through our latest con-tract with the City of Ventura.

Super-size your recycling! Order an Extra Large recycling cart at no extra cost!

If your recyclables are spilling out of your cart on pick-up day, call us at 647-1414 and request a 50% larger recycling cart (96 gallon), free of charge!

Recycle your rigid plastics: E.J. Harrison accepts rigid plas-

tics like toys, buckets, margarine and yogurt tubs, nursery fl ats and fl ower pots in your blue recycling cart. You still can’t place plastic bags in your recycling cart, but please be sure to take advantage of plastic bag recy-cling offered at most grocery stores.

Recycle your athletic shoes: From now on, do not toss your old tennis shoes into your trash cart. Place them in your blue recycling carts, along with your paper, glass and plastics. Nike, the shoe giant, collects the shoes and grinds them into rubberized material that is

used in the construction of new synthetic athletic fi elds. Since

Nike began its Reuse-A-Shoe program, it has helped donate more than 250 sport surfaces

to communities around the world.Need an extra green waste cart? For

you avid gardeners out there as well as for those of you with large yards whose carts always seem to be overfl ow-ing, relief is here. For just $3 a month, E.J. Harrison & Sons will provide you with an additional green waste cart.

For more information, call 647-1414 or visit www.ejharrison.com.

GreenWaste Only

Recycle Only

Page 4Winter 2008 Trash Flash

Printed on Recycled Paper

City of VenturaCity Manager: Rick Cole • Mayor: Christy Weir • Deputy Mayor: Bill Fulton

council Members: Neal Andrews, Brian Brennan, Jim Monahan, Carl Morehouse & Ed Summers

Extra trash?Call for roll-offs and bin rentals.

Open 6 days a week for self-haul trash and recyclables buy-back.

Complete the recycling loop... get mulch and soil amendments at:

(805) 642-9236www.ejharrison.com

www.agromin.comwww.calwoodrecycling.com

(805) 647-1414

www.goldcoastrecycling.com

(805) 650-1616

E.J. Harrison & SonsRecycling, Yard Waste and Trash Guidelines

How to Place Your Cart for Automated Collection

The automated arm of the collection truck needs room to grab the cart. Carts should be placed 2-3 feet apart from each other and from objects such as mailboxes and cars with the wheels facing the curb.

Carts should be out by 7:00 a.m. on collection days.

2-3 ft.2-3 ft.

STOPNo Hazardous

Waste!!These items are NOT accepted for

Trash or Recycling. Hazardous Waste Tires TVs/Computer Monitors Batteries Closed Containers Oil or Paints Compact Flourescent Medical Needles

LightbulbsFor information on how to dispose of these items, please call: • Ventura 652-4525 • Ojai 658-4323

What goes in the Trash?

What Doesn’t go in the Trash or any other cart?

Hopefully, very little. After you have recycled, composted, fi lled the yard waste cart, donated old clothing and goods, and done all of those good things and more – most of the rest can go in the trash.