Happy Holidays! I am a local recycling enthusiast collecting the following holiday-inspired items for diversion from landfill, and distributing them to organizations that will use or dispose of them responsibly:

*Holiday lights and decorations*

*Wrapping paper, boxes, bows and ribbons*

*Package insulation from shipping boxes, including packing peanuts, plastic pillows, bubble wrap*

*Old cell phones and chargers, any condition*

*Old batteries*

*Clothing, shoes, bedding, or other fabric material, any condition (somewhat clean, please)*

*Kitchenware/dishware, any condition (somewhat clean, please)*

Sign up to have your items picked up using the link in the top right corner! Please feel free to contact me with questions at:

860-338-0103 or pitler.ben@gmail.com.

Excited to see what we can collect!

Since 2015, Americans have sent an average of 135 million tons of trash to the landfill each year, which works out to 870 pounds per person. The vast majority of these items can be repurposed or recycled, but our current system makes it easier to throw them in the trash. I believe repurposing should be just as simple, and I want to conduct an experiment in collecting difficult-to-recycle (DTR) items that would otherwise be thrown away and sent to landfill.

What better time to run this experiment than the holiday season? Although this season brings much joy, it also brings much waste, whether from decorations and packaging, or old clothes, wares, and trinkets replaced by shiny new gifts. I want to help you help the environment by disposing of your holiday waste in the most sensible, earth-friendly ways possible. Since there is no one group that will recycle ALL of your holiday waste in one go, I will distribute items we collect to several DC-area groups for responsible disposal and/or future use in their mission! I am running this project on a volunteer basis, mainly to collect data and glean some insight into household waste streams and habits. The only donation I request is 10 minutes of your time: five to arrange trash pickup, and five to complete a short Google survey.