On Sunday, April 21, the LUN Sustainability Committee hosted an Earth Day Community Service Project.  The purpose of the project was to help Lowry neighbors safely get rid of toxic items from their homes and to educate them about resources for responsible disposal.

LUN volunteers (Renee Arrington, Carol Dietz, Barb DeSarro, Karen Hagans, Sally Kurtzman, Carla McConnell,  and Kathy Head) erected a temporary drop-off site, and neighbors were encouraged to bring items, that are not recyclable with the regular city pick-up, to be distributed to appropriate facilities for recycling and repurposing. Toxic items such as fertilizers, cleaning products, weed killers were bagged on site and old batteries were boxed.  These items were all later picked up by the City & County of Denver’s Waste Management division to be disposed of safely.  Plastic film was taken to a plastic recycling drop-off. (Did you know that donated plastic is used for the manufacturing of Trex decking products?) Special thanks to Renee Arrington, who filled her car with Styrofoam and transported it to EcoCycle in Boulder, where is it repurposed into new strofoam. 

Response from neighbors was enthusiastic and appreciative. The volunteers accepted items until the hazardous waste bags were filled. Some late comers had to be turned away. For more information on how to recycle and repurpose, check out our complete list here. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!