In light of yesterday’s storm and the mess of tree and yard debris left behind, Hamilton County and the City of Cincinnati would like to remind you about your options for dealing with yardwaste.

From the release:

County and City Offer Options For Yardwaste
In response to Sunday’s storm, many communities are offering special collection programs for yardwaste. To learn more about what your community is offering, please visit your community website or call the administrative offices.

The Hamilton County Solid Waste Management District (District) and the City of Cincinnati offer options for residents who have storm debris. Listed below are options to assist residents with yardwaste clean-up.

Hamilton County Yardwaste Program
Hamilton County residents can participate in the District’s FREE Yardwaste Recycling Drop-Off sites on Saturdays and Sundays from 11:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. through November 30, 2008. This program does not accept yardwaste from landscapers or businesses.

The yardwaste sites are located at:

• East*: Turpin Farm, 3295 Turpin Ln. (off Rt. 32) in Anderson Township
• West: Kuliga Park, 6717 Bridgetown Rd. in Green Township
• North**: Rumpke Sanitary Landfill, Struble Rd. and Colerain Ave. in Colerain Township

* The Turpin Farm location is also open during regular business hours, Monday through Friday, from 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
** The Rumpke Sanitary Landfill location will also be open Wednesday through Friday, September 17th through September 19th from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Follow signs to designated drop-off area.

The drop-off sites accept materials such as leaves, grass clippings, brush, garden waste, tree trunks, and prunings from trees or shrubs. For more information about the yardwaste recycling drop-off program, please call the District at (513) 946-7755 or visit www.hamiltoncountyrecycles.org.

City of Cincinnati Yardwaste Program
The City of Cincinnati will accept all types of yardwaste, including grass clippings, leaves, branches and brush. City crews and contractors are out addressing downed trees and limbs in the following order:

1. Major routes and thoroughfares
2. Streets with only one access point
3. Blocked driveways
4. Houses

Residents are encouraged to follow the general guidelines for yardwaste collection, but some flexibility of these rules will be permitted during this time. The City will relax its procedures and pick up any tree limbs or branches brought to the curb.

• The City cannot go onto private property to get tree limbs and branches.
• The City will send crews as soon as possible; this may differ from your regular trash collection day.
• Leaves, small brush and sticks should be put either in a biodegradable brown paper yard waste bags, or in trash cans clearly marked “YARD WASTE”.
• Yardwaste in plastic bags cannot be collected.

The City can only address trees and limbs where Duke Energy has been able to clear downed lines.

If you need to report trees and limbs in the public streets and curbs, please the City of Cincinnati’s Customer Service Hotline at 591-6000 for more information.

If you live outside of the City of Cincinnati, please call Hamilton County’s Yardwaste Hotline at 946-7755.

If you’ve ever driven downtown for the baddest fireworks display around, you know that traffic and parking for Riverfest are enough trouble to almost make you want to stay home.

Everyone knows that it’s not the same if you’re not there in person.  This year, let Metro and TANK do the driving for you.

Metro’s Riverfest Express runs on Sunday August 31st for only $3 one-way, or $5 for a round-trip ticket. Compare that to $10 and $20 parking near the river and you can justify taking the whole family on the bus or riding solo and being able to afford a t-shirt and funnel cake. Check out the Metro Riverfest site for the details on where and when to catch the Express.

Looking for a seat on the Kentucky side of the river this year? Ride the TANK’s special Riverfest Park and Ride service. Be shuttled from NKU, Turfway, or Buttermilk to Newport or Covington. Check out the TANK Riverfest Park and Ride details to find out when and where to pick up the bus.

Can’t make up your mind about which side of the river to watch the show from? Ride the TANK Southbank Shuttle between Covington, Newport, and Downtown Cincinnati for $1.25 per trip.

There is a lot of paper in our lives; way beyond office paper, junk mail, and magazines.  Here are a few more answers to help you get the right mixed paper into your recycling bin.

Question: Can sticky papers like post-it notes be recycled?
Answer: Yes

Question: Can restroom and kitchen paper towels that have been used to dry hands and counters be recycled?
Answer: No. There is bio residue and grease (similar to the case with pizza boxes) left behind that contaminates the paper so it cannot be recycled.

Question: Can I recycle shiny papers like receipts, movie tickets, and coupons?
Answer: Yes! These are all considered mixed paper and are indeed recyclable.  Even if you choose to shred your receipts, you can recycle the paper shreds.

Question: Can I recycle paperback books?
Answer: No.  Rumpke cannot accept these, but you can donate them to the public library or take them to a Half Price Books store for resale.

Question: Can wrapping paper be recycled if you get all the tape off?
Answer: Rumpke’s manufacturers will only allow a very small percentage of wrapping paper in a bale, and if there is too much it will not be accepted. At this time, Rumpke advises against adding wrapping paper to your recycling. However, back in the day, my grandma collected wrapping paper at holidays, trimmed the edges, ironed it on the lowest possible heat, and reused it. I hear it also makes great book covers for text books.

Thanks to Amanda Pratt of Rumpke for the facts!

Some things that seem like they are recyclable are actually not accepted in Cincinnati.

Question: Are dishes, mirrors and window glasses accepted?
Answer: The single stream sorting technology employed to sort recyclables cannot sort these items. Also, the type of glass used to make these items is not useful to the manufacturers using the glass Rumpke Recycling processes.

Question: Can I recycle small metallic things like staples, paper clips, and wire hangers?
Answer: No. Staples still need to go in the garbage with your paper clips. Remember to reuse those paper clips as many times as you possibly can before trashing them. I always like to give my mutilated paperclips a final goodbye by sculpting them into mini-modern art. Wire hangers from the dry cleaner can be returned to your dry cleaner and reused. There are also many clever ideas to turn wire hangers into things to use around the house like funky book shelves.

When you can’t recycle, reuse!  Get creative and craft gifts for all your friends and family out of your used hangers and mirrors.  Save the good stuff for your next yard sale or give it away on Freecycle!

The Enquirer wants to know what you’ve changed in your life to become more environmentally conscious.

Submit your tips for better recycling, smarter buying, reduced driving, water saving, and whatever else you’ve been focusing on in the home or at work over the past few months.

As we mentioned yesterday, most paper materials you recieve in the mail are recyclable.  Here are a few more questions about postal items and whether they can find a new life in your recycling bin.

Question: Can bubble envelopes for mailing be recycled?
Answer: No. The paper outside cannot be separated from the plastic bubble wrap inside and the mixture is contaminated.

Question: Can I recycle Tyvek-type mailing envelopes?
Answer: Yes.

Question: What about stickers or sheets of address labels?
Answer: No. Sticky labels cannot be recycled because there is too much adhesive involved.  When I recieve an excess of address labels in the mail from organizations, I cut off my address and give the sticker squares with pictures or designs on them to my nieces.

Question: When I recycle my cardboard and boxes, do I need to get all the labels off?
Answer: If you are recycling corrugated cardboard, you do not need to remove labels. They will disintegrate in the recycling process.

Thanks again to Amanda Pratt and Rumpke for the facts!

Need a bin?  Check out details on how to get a recycling bin.

Have a bin?  Keep filling those bins with boxes and your other recyclables, the Mayor is counting on us for his recycling challenge!

Most paper you deal with on a day to day basis is recyclable in Cincinnati.  Feel free to drop white paper, colored paper and newspaper in your bin.  But what about other papers?

Question: Can I recycle junk mail and envelopes with see through windows?
Answer: Yes! All junk mail can be recycled including envelopes with windows.

Question: Can I recycle catalogs and magazines?  What about the staples?
Answer: Yes!  All catalogs and magazines can be recycled, even with staples in the binding.

Question: Can I recycle a phone book?
Answer: Yes!  Drop these in your Rumpke bins and they will be recycled.

Thanks again to Amanda Pratt at Rumpke for the facts.

If you weren’t already including all these things in your curbside recycling bins and drop-off points, now you can!  Remember whenever possible, remove yourself from mailing lists and use the backside of your paper for notes and grocery lists.  Then, clean up the counter and fill your recycling container with paper, paper, paper!!!

We’re introducing a new feature for Live Green Cincinnati, the monthly challenge.  We’re planning to provide a regular greenED [a.k.a. green + environmental direction] suggestion to encourage you to make one small lifestyle change each month on the way to minimizing your environmental footprint and improving Cincinnati.

Want to get in on the action?  Join our monthly newsletter to be a part of the greenED challenge.  The monthly guide will let you know about upcoming events, provide green product reviews, define green terms, remind you of the most popular ideas and articles from the regular Live Green blog, and more.

As a clarification, you can still receive our daily articles by subscribing to our RSS feed through a feed reader. If you currently receive daily articles through our email feed, you will want to sign up for our new monthly newsletter as well since these are delivered through different email systems.

Sign up for the monthly greenED challenge news here!