YOUR LOCAL RECYCLING RESOURCE

Supporting Kingwood and the greater Lake Houston Area

KKG Collects Nearly 350 pounds of Batteries

What to do with all those single use Alkaline batteries? Keep Kingwood Green offered for the first time to take those batteries off your hand at the most recent B.O.P.A. collection event. We encouraged our readers to bring us those AA and AAA, and the response was impressive. We filled up eight boxes with hundreds if not thousands of mostly alkaline batteries. The City of Houston and Waste Management encourage residents to dispose of these common batteries in the trash, but we think they should be recycled responsibly. Given the costs though we will have to ponder if our small non-profit can afford to offer this service every year. If we can count on donations or a corporate sponsor we will consider another battery collection at the next B.O.P.A. Stay tuned.

Holiday Lights Recycling

Did you know that your local Home Depot Store offers free Christmas lights recycling through December 14th? So bring your outdated and broken lights and replace them with energy efficient LED lights.

Recap of the two B.O.P.A. events in 2016

Many Kingwood residents are still not sure what a B.O.P.A. is. During 2016 the City Solid Waste Department with sponsorship from Councilman Dave Martin held two of these “animals” in Kingwood. A B.O.P.A. is simply an event where batteries (lead acid & rechargeable), motor & cooking oils, latex paint, and antifreeze are collected and recycled by the City in a safe and environmentally friendly way. For several years, and now added to this event is the collection of large appliances and scrap metal. In May 23,199 pounds of these materials were turned in by 399 residents. In October 27,796 pounds were collected from 435 residents.

Our congratulations to everyone who uses this opportunity to dispose of items that should never go to the landfill!

We always hear from residents that due to one reason or another they were not able to attend the B.O.P.A. There are alternatives and we do list them on our website.

Other Recycling Oportunities

Also in October the DEA held a drug take back event in Kingwood. While we did not get a recap of what was collected, we did observe many residents bringing their expired or unused medications to this event.

In addition the City in conjunction with CompuCycle collects electronic waste on the first Saturday of every month. This year, the average monthly collection of these items has been 17,999 pounds.

The next E-Waste collection is this coming Saturday, December 3rd!

At the Metro Park and Ride lot, the City also provides weekend recycling for residents for cardboard, clear glass, colored glass, tin and aluminum cans, newspaper and other papers and magazines, and plastic bottles. Many residents who have curbside recycling from their trash service providers are no longer able to recycle glass at curbside and are now bringing their glass to this collection site. These bins are normally at the site by noon on Friday and are removed early Monday morning.

In summery the the B.O.P.A. collection event is held twice and the prescription drug take back once a year. The electronics recycling is held monthly, while the regular recycling bins are available every weekend. We always announce these events in this newsletter and post them on our website.

No Recycling Bins at the Metro Lot on Christmas Weekend

The City of Houston announced that because Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are on a Saturday and Sunday, respectively, there will be no recycling drop-off at the Metro Park & Ride lot that weekend. The boxes will be there the weekend before and the weekend after, just not on Christmas weekend.

Christmas Tree Recycling

The City of Houston will again offer Christmas Tree recycling this year from December 28th until January 15th. Remember, that unless the City of Houston is your trash service provider, all trees put at the curb will go to the landfill. Waste Management, Republic Services, and Best Trash do not recycle trees or any green waste put at the curb. If they are your service, you can take your tree to the cul de sac on Bens Branch in front of the Kingwood Library. Please remove stands and all decorations. Flocked trees cannot be recycled. Living Earth Technology will pick up these trees and grind them into mulch.

Happy Holidays and a Greener New Year

Keep Kingwood Green wishes you stress-free holidays and a very healthy 2017! While you are making new years resolutions, try and think of new ways to recycle more and buy less stuff. Remember the six "R"s. Refuse, Reduce, Repurpose Reinvent (or Rethink) and always: Recycle! We thank you for caring and doing your part. And if you are interested in getting more involved and would like to join our group please let us know, we are always looking for like minded people to join our cause, as well as volunteer at various recycling events throughout the year.