There was a racket in my neighborhood recently; a thud and sound of rolling wheels. I glanced outside to see the new recycling carts being delivered. I looked down the street and saw a gray, blue and green cart lined up in front of each house.

This upgraded service will make recycling easier for residents and, when the new automated trucks arrive in mid summer, make it easier on the Vallejo Garbage Service truck drivers to empty these bins from the driver's seat.

Your 96-gallon green cart (equal to three standard trash cans) is for yardwaste which will be collected every other week according to your yardwaste calendar. Weekly yardwaste service will start sometime in the summer.

Your gray cart is for your garbage. Several of my friends have mused that they have so little garbage that they may only put out their gray carts once a month.

The blue recycling carts came with a label attached to the lid listing the items that can be recycled. We now have single stream recycling which means that we no longer separate containers from paper products.

I would like to suggest that you place cans and bottles on the bottom of your carts with paper on top. This makes it more difficult for scavengers to come by and steal the valuable California Redemption Value (CRV) containers.

Plastic recycling is confusing, but VGS has made it simple to understand. Only two general types of plastics: CRV containers (#1 through #7) and narrow-neck #1 through #7 containers are accepted. Lids must be removed and containers rinsed. Unacceptable plastic includes deli trays, plant pots, Styrofoam, toys, cups and plastic bags.

As before, aluminum, steel and tin cans can go into your cart along with clean aluminum foil and pans. Now you can add empty aerosol cans, metal lids from bottles and some scrap metal. No electronic or computer equipment is allowed. Aerosol cans that are partially empty need to go our Household Hazardous Waste Facility (HHWF) located at 889 Devlin Road (next to the transfer station) just north of American Canyon. This free service is open every Friday and Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m..
Call 800 984-9661 for information.

All glass beverage and food containers are accepted with lids removed, rinsed and empty. No drinking glasses, ceramics, window glass, mirrors, light bulbs or fluorescent tubes are accepted. Fluorescent tubes/bulbs should be taken to HHWF or to VGS (Thursday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.).

In addition to newspaper, junk mail, office paper and boxes, paper recycling now includes soft-covered books and shredded paper(place in a clear plastic bag). Make sure that cardboard boxes fit inside the cart and please keep all paper clean. No hardcover books, binders, food wrapping, napkins, tissues or paper towels can be recycled. Some milk cartons may be accepted but not the shelf-stable version that is lined with foil and plastic.

You can keep your old blue recycling bins, trash and yardwaste cans or place them empty with a large sign next to your new carts with a note for pickup on your collection day.

My last suggestion is to put your carts out when they are full and make sure the lids are closed as that will keep all recyclables, yard waste and garbage dry and prevent litter.

Information about this new service is available on a 24-hour hotline at 707 551-2628 or www.vallejogarbage.com. For specific recycling details call VGS Recycling Coordinator Lisa Lefebvre at 707 552-3110.

WRAP
Congratulations to two Vallejo businesses, North Bay Cabinets and Vallejo Garbage Service, who have been honored by the State of California as 2006 Waste Reduction Award Program (WRAP) winners. Other Solano County businesses honored include Anheuser-Busch in Fairfield, Genetech in Vacaville, and statewide companies such as Safeway, SaveMart Supermarkets, and Target.

Earth Day
Mark your calendars for Saturday, April 21 for our downtown Earth Day event in Vallejo. Call VALCORE Recycling at 707 645-8258 to participate. The annual E-Waste and tire recycling event will be held at Vallejo Garbage located at 2021 Broadway from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the same day.