Inside this issue

Welcome Back Jack
HHW Collection
ARD
Fair Winner
Celebrate Green
Holiday Shopping
Holiday Recycling
Holiday School Contest
No Drugs Down the Drain

Autumn Leaves

The wonders of nature are awesome. During autumn, leaves turn beautiful shades of orange, yellow and red and dot our country-side with brilliant colors. Unfortunately, this time period is brief and then the inevitable hap-pens: All of the leaves fall to the ground. When the leaves fall, children celebrate by jumping and playing in them. For adults, how-ever, it is a different story. Adults usually worry about how they’ll manage all of those leaves.

Actually, there are many options for man-aging leaves. If you have a backyard compost bin, leaves can be saved and added to your bin throughout the year as a carbon source. If you have a mulching mower, leaves can be mulched right on your yard, allowing valuable nutrients to return to the soil. If neither of these options appeals to you, you may want to participate in a community leaf composting program. Local communities that are providing leaf collections this year include Boardman Twp., Canfield Twp., City of Canfield, Lowellville, New Middletown, Po-land Village, Village of Sebring, Struthers, and Youngstown.

If you would like to learn more about these programs, please con-tact your local officials or visit our website at www.greenteam.cc.

RREAP Receives Funding for 2019

The Green Team is pleased to announce that the USDA Rural Utilities Administration has approved grant funding in the amount of $17,905.00 for the Rural Recycling Education & Awareness Pro-gram (RREAP) during the 2019 - 2020 grant year. These funds will allow RREAP to continue providing environmental educational services to the county’s rural communities.

I would like to thank Green Team Director Lou Vega, the Mahoning County Commis-sioners, and the entire Green Team staff for their continued support. I would also like to thank all of the wonderful Mahoning County residents who make this program a success.
Together we are making a difference!

~ Kim Lewis

Welcome Back Jack!

If you’ve noticed more pumpkins than usual growing in the Mahoning Valley, please be advised that this is no accident. Each year during October, Green Team educators visit Mahoning County schools with an exciting presentation about backyard composting that includes an interactive story, colorful costumes, and - you guessed it - pumpkins! The story, titled Pumpkin Jack is a heart-warming tale about a boy named Tim who creates a friendly jack-o-lantern affectionately named “Jack.” After Halloween passes and Jack begins to rot, instead of throwing Jack in the trash, Tim places him in the garden and waits for the magic
to begin. Throughout the seasons, Tim experiences the wonder of nature’s recycling by observing Jack’s transformation from jack-o-lantern to seed to pumpkin again. After Tim harvests his new pumpkin, he carves a face and welcomes back his old friend.

After reading Pumpkin Jack students each receive a mini pumpkin to decorate and take home and are instructed to allow nature to recycle their old pumpkins into new pumpkins for next Halloween. In 2018, the education department distributed 2,200 pumpkins and 2019 promises to be just as big. By all calculations, the valley should soon be swimming in
a sea of orange.

If you’re one of the parents whose child brings home a mini-pumpkin from the Green Team, please support this environmental lesson by following through with the pumpkin activity. Remember: You’re children are counting on you.

Left: Mrs. Lewis poses with a group of students at Springfield Elementary School.

Right: Mrs. Flynn poses with students at C.H. Campbell Elementary School.

Fall Household Hazardous Waste Collection

The Green Team is once again providing an opportunity for collecting household hazardous material.
On Saturday, Oct., 5.The Household Hazardous Waste Collection will be held at the Canfield Fairgrounds
from 9:00 am until 3:00 pm. The collection hours listed below are designated by last name:
A-F 9:00 am-11:00 pm G-N 11:00 am-1:00 pm O-Z 1:00 pm-3:00 pm
The following HOUSEHOLD items will be accepted:
Thinners Automotive Fluids Pool & Photo Chemicals Bleach
Antifreeze Used Motor Oil Solvents Poisons
Aerosol Cans Propane Cylinders Acids Stains
Lighter Fluid Adhesive/Glue Mercury Greases
Roof Coatings Car Batteries Household Cleaners Pesticides
Varnish Gasoline Oil Based Paint Herbicides
Caulks Cylinder Fluorescent Lights
Latex paint will not be accepted. Dispose of Latex paint by hardening with sand or kitty litter and placing with
regular household waste. For additional information regarding this special collection, contact the Green Team.

Attention Fall Planters:

Take used nursery pots & flats to
Lowe’s, Home Depot, or River’s Bend Farm.

The pots will be sterilized for re-use.

America Recycles Day

America Recycles Day (ARD) is observed on November 15 and is the only nationally recognized day dedicated to encouraging Americans to recycle and buy recycled products. When material is recycled it becomes new again. Plastic bottles can become carpet or playground equipment. Glass bottles and jars may be recycled into new containers or glassphalt.

On America Recycles Day, take the pledge. Learn - find out which materials are collected
for recycling in your community. Act -reduce personal waste by recycling. Share - in the next month, encourage one family member or one friend to begin recycling at home or at work.

For more information about this subject, visitamericarecyclesday.org.

Congratulations are extended to one lucky winner who stopped by our Canfield Fair booth and played: “Recycle & Win.”

Valley resident Kerry Lanterman won a $100.00 Visa gift card after her name was selected from over 300 entries as part of this educational activity.

I think that Kerry & everyone can agree that this is really something to crow about!

Celebrate Green

There is no better time than the holidays to host a zero-waste party. In fact, considering the amount of over consumption that occurs between Thanksgiving and Christmas, it is the perfect time for this type of event.

You should begin planning your party one month in advance to give yourself ample time for preparations. Once you have chosen a date, send out electronic invitations or post invites on social media. After you have received a head count, buy only the amount of food that you’ll need for the evening. When possible, select locally sourced options and foods that are in season. Once you have determined your food menu, consider drinks. Purchase beverages in Earth-friendly, recyclable containers and always remember to forgo the bottled water. Instead, opt for a carafe of fruit-infused water that will taste as delicious as it looks. Of course you’ll want to serve that water in something special. The holidays are an ideal time to get out the crystal goblets along with your decorative china, cloth napkins, and festive table cloth.

At the end of the evening, ask your spouse or a friend to assist you with the clean-up. Ensuring that everything is in it’s proper place will give you peace of mind and a feeling of deep satisfaction in knowing that you have done something kind for the Earth.

Green Holiday Shopping Tips

To make your holidays less stressful and more eco-friendly, consider these “green” shopping tips.

Start Early: Complete your shopping before the holiday rush. This will allow you more time to spend with family and friends.
Shop With A Reusable Tote Bag: Prevent plastic bags from entering the environment. This gesture will conserve natural re-sources and prevent pollution.
Give the Gift of Experience: Purchase a gift pass for a local muse-um, zoo, or nature center. These activities will create memories that last a lifetime.
Buy Presents that Support Conservation: Consider a wildlife adoption package, native seeds with gardening tools, or a backyard bird feeder with seed and a field guide.

Holiday Recycling Drives

Each year during the holiday season, an ex-tra 5 million tons of waste is generated --- 25% more than usual! To address this issue, the Green Team is sponsoring two special recycling drives.

Wrap It Up Again! is the wrapping paper and greeting card drive scheduled for December 26 through January 15 at our recycling drop-off sites. Remember to remove all ribbons and bows and to exclude foil wraps.

The Christmas Tree Recycling Drive will be held December 26 through January 31 at designated recycling drop-off sites. Trees will be donated to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for use as wildlife habitat.

Last year Mahoning County diverted nearly 5,000 pounds of wrap-ping paper and greeting cards along with 60,600 pounds of Christmas trees from the waste stream. Let’s make this year an even bigger success. Remember--- every little bit counts.

Design-an-Ornament Contest

Are your students creative? Do they like to create some-thing from reused material? Then you are ready for your students to enter the “Design-an-Ornament Contest.” From now until November 21, 2019, students in grades K through twelve can make ornaments from any reused material that they can find. Send them to the Green Team office. The
Green Team will decorate a Christmas tree at Fellows Riverside Gardens in Mill Creek Park with various “reused” ornaments that the students send to the Green Team. Other trees may be decorated as well, depending upon how many ornaments we receive. The contest part of designing an ornament is to see which classroom gets a bird feeder made from recycled material. Every classroom that enters will have its name put into a jar. After November 21st, the Green Team will pick a name from the jar to receive the bird feeder. Be creative and enjoy making the ornaments while teaching your students about “Reuse!”
~ Peg Flynn

Be an angel...

and recycle your old towels, blankets, and empty feedbags. Angels for Animals is in need of this material for their animal charity. If you would like to donate these items, please drop them off at the shelter located at 4750 State Rt. 165 in Canfield.

No Drugs Down The Drain

The official DEA Drug Take-Back Day is October 26, but Mahoning County residents can drop off drugs at several locations throughout the area that have permanent sites. These sites, most of which are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, can be found at the following locations:

Austintown PD, 92 Ohltown Rd. Austintown, 44515
Beaver Twp. PD, 601 W. S. Range Rd. N. Lima, 44452
Boardman PD, 8299 Market St. Boardman, 44512
Canfield PD, 104 Lisbon St. Canfield, 44406
Goshen PD, 14003 W. S. Range Rd. Salem, 44460
Lowellville City Hall, 140 E. Liberty St. Lowellville, 44436
M. C. Sheriff’s Office, 110 Fifth Ave. Youngstown, 44503
Milton Twp. PD, 15992 Milton Ave. Lake Milton, 44429
New Middletown PD, 10711 Main St. New Middletown, 44442
Poland Gov’t. Center, 3339 Dobbons Rd. Poland, 44514
Sebring PD, 135 E. Ohio Ave. Sebring, 44672
Struthers City Hall, 6 Elm St. Struthers, 44471
YSU PD, 266 W. Wood St. Youngstown, 44555
Springfield PD, 3475 E. S. Range Rd. New Springfield 44443

For further information about recycling and other solid waste management programs, visit our website at
www.greenteam.cc
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