If you attended Winter Wonderland, you may have seen the Coalition of Positively Charged People‘s unique battery chute that was helping folks recycle alkaline (normal household) batteries. While Reinstein Woods is no longer accepting alkaline batteries, we do accept the following materials for recycling:

• rechargeable batteries
• sneakers in usable condition
• clean, empty skin care, hair care and cosmetic containers that otherwise wouldn’t be able to be recycled
• toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes, floss and deodorant containers through Tom’s of Maine and Terracycle
• PERFECT #6 styrofoam (the kind electronics come wrapped in- must be in perfect condition)
• Cell Phones (for Soldiers)

You can bring these items to the “recycling station” inside the Education Center Monday through Friday 9 am to 4:30 pm and Saturdays from 1 pm to 4:30 pm.

Additionally, you can bring used clothing and blankets any time and place them in the Hearts for the Homeless bin in the main parking lot. Clothing doesn’t have to be in perfect condition (items can be sold to markets for industrial rags, for instance) but should be clean and dry.

To find where to recycle other items, visit earth911.org.

“Our students have been so excited to see all of the materials that they are helping to recycle.  Many teachers and parents have also commented on how great this was.” – Teacher at BPS 33

You may recall from the last newsletter that New York is making a push to keep clothing out of landfills by raising awareness about what to do with old clothing and textiles. To help promote this effort, Friends of Reinstein teamed with the City of Buffalo, DEC and the WNY Coalition for Donated goods to sponsor an “Earth Day Clothing Drive” in Buffalo Public Schools.

Students from eleven Buffalo public and charter schools collected clothing that was removed for recycling or reuse by the WNY Coalition for Donated Goods, a collaboration of nonprofit organizations whose goal is to promote both the community and the environment through the donation of clothing and other goods.

DEC Region 9 Director Abby Snyder and Deputy Mayor Dr. Ellen Grant congratulated students at a ceremony at School 45 (International School). Some of the schools competed to see which class in the school could collect the most clothing. The winning class received a pizza party from Hearts for the Homeless and the City of Buffalo, and the runner-up class received Smencils courtesy of Reinstein Woods. Olmsted School 64 had the highest collection total, saving more than 3,605 pounds of clothes, bedding, and related textile accessories from ending up in a landfill.

Overall, the eleven schools collected 11,244 pounds of clothing. How much is that? It’s equivalent to the weight of:

• 5 polar bears,
• 2.5 minivans, or
• 1 elephant!

Kudos also goes to Grand Island High School and Huth Road Elementary School in Grand Island, who organized an Earth Day clothing drive too and collected an additional 1,704 pounds of clothing that was given to the Coalition for recycling.