Free litter kits help local residents clean up their act

Each year the melting snow unveils a host of bottles, bags, cups and other trash littering roadways, cities and villages. Now if you don’t like the look of your surroundings, you can change them with a new litter pick-up kit being offered by the Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne Joint Solid Waste Management District.

The kit contains 12 litter pick-up tools, gloves, goggles and safety vests. Trash bags are supplied, but borrowers are responsible for disposing of the trash collected. Litter-collection kits will be reserved and loaned in the order requests are received.

“We are hoping that community, civic groups, schools and nonprofits borrow these,” said Wendy Bullock, outreach coordinator for the Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne Joint Solid Waste Management District.

One kit is available now, and if it proves to be popular, more materials and equipment will be purchased. Any group within the three-county waste-management district is eligible to use the kit free of charge.

The kit is designed for safe litter-collection practices as litter pickups can be dangerous. Participants must wear the personal protective equipment when conducting collections including a safety vest, goggles and gloves.

“There are needles, broken glass, and a lot of cans and messes, so if people don’t have to actually touch the trash with their hands, I feel it just gives them a little extra degree of safety,” Bullock said. “We wanted to have alternatives for the public. We do have gloves and decided to get goggles. You never know if a branch is going to hit you or a rock could fly off the highway.”

Bullock said one of her greatest fears is realized at least once per year: snakes hiding in trash. “It seems like every time I volunteer for a litter pickup, I’m always knee deep in weeds and snakes,” Bullock said. “I think this will help eliminate grabbing trash with snakes in it.”

Bullock recommends all trash picked up be thrown away. Separating recyclables is difficult because items to recycle must be empty and dry.

The kit may be picked up at the Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne Joint Solid Waste Management District office in Bolivar. The kit is free to use; however, there is a $50 fee if the items are significantly damaged, returned late or not returned. Sign-up to reserve a kit is available online.

“I hope we get people the information and they’ll come borrow the kits,” Bullock said.

Another service from the waste-management district is their receptacle program for recyclables.

“We lend out recycling receptacles for events free of charge. They’re a wire frame with bags, so they are easy to transport,” Bullock said.

Information on the program is available online. The recyclable items can then be disposed of at one of the recyclable drop-off locations in the district; a complete list is available at their website.

In the fall the waste-management district will hold its second Master Recycler program. The program runs for nine weeks and features a series of guest speakers to give a comprehensive overview of solid waste in the district and how it can be minimized.

As part of the Master Recycler program, participants are to give back 20 volunteer hours in litter pickup or volunteering at an event. Twenty-four people completed the program last year.

“We are going to have another Master Recycler program this fall, so hopefully we’ll have another 24 more volunteers,” Bullock said.

Bullock is currently working with a panel of master recyclers from the first class to determine the best practices for the next class.

For more information call the Stark-Tuscarawas-Wayne Joint Solid Waste Management District at 800-678-9839, email Bullock at wendy@timetorecycle.org or visit the website at www.timetorecycle.org.