It’s warming up, trees are blooming, and green thumbs are prepping gardens.  Spring is upon us and time to prettier our flower and vegetable beds, but let’s be green and sustainable about it!

Many of us make the effort to recycle daily, but did you know there are guidelines to recycling? Take for example the plastic containers flowers and vegetable plants are grown and sold in.  Once you have transferred the plant to your bed, you might think you can toss it into the recycle bin. Well, yes, you can, but it must be brushed out and not full of dirt. Items going into the recycle bin need to be clean as the and dirt or waste destroys the recycle process.  One dirty plant container can contaminate an entire bale of recyclables, defeating the purpose of recycling and many tons of recyclable items wind up in the trash. If these guidelines are not followed, our efforts are for not. So please, brush out the plastic plant containers before throwing them in the recycle bin.  Some stores, such as Lowe’s have recycle centers where you can bring back your plastic plant bins. In addition, at Lowe’s you can also recycle your old appliances, rechargeable batteries, cell phones, compact fluorescent lightbulbs and plastic shopping bags. Happy gardening!

Written by Dyan Getz