Other Materials to Recycle

by Alissa Oliverson (SWAC Chair), April 2021 

Trash Talk Series from Sustainable Klamath, Solid Waste Action Committee (SWAC)

Not everything that is recyclable is allowed in your curbside recycle bin. Sustainable Klamath  maintains a list of other materials to recycle that will help you recycle more items, more often. 

Last Saturday, Sustainable Klamath and the Mills Neighborhood Association hosted an event in  honor of Earth Day. We collected scrap metal, glass, and batteries. With the help of Klamath Works, we also collected mattresses for recycling. It was a cold and windy day, but that didn’t stop our volunteers and participants. The Tool Library helped people borrow the right tool for their job without the cost of ownership, and sold gently used tools to those who were in the market for something long-term and budget-friendly. The Intersectional Environmental Club from Klamath Union High School sewed their upcycled reusable bags and gave them away, and the Spoken Word Poets read some of their favorite poems out loud and created a community poem with attendees. We filled a few bins with recyclable materials and shared information on local  recycling and sustainability with people who stopped by.  

One piece of information we shared that we have found to be especially helpful to our community is our list of other recyclable materials and where to take them. These are the materials that are not allowed in your curbside recycle bin and do not belong in landfills, like lithium-ion batteries and mattresses. This list is updated as often as possible by SWAC and includes contact information for collection sites so that anyone with questions about recyclable items can find answers. Now that Earth Day has passed, Sustainable Klamath is looking forward to the Farmer’s Market, where we will continue to share valuable information on recycling and sustainability in the Klamath Basin. And we need your feedback. If there is something you would like to recycle but don’t know where to take it, contact Sustainable Klamath on our website and we will do our best to find an answer. Be on the lookout for our next in-person event, and until then, we hope you find this list helpful and useful.