Recycle Guide - Homewood-Flossmoor Area Green Committee

Download brochure -  This helpful guide will show you which local businesses accept your recyclable materials.

Homewood Disposal Accepted Recycling Items

For more information, please visit - www.mydisposal.com/resources/recycling-guide

WILEY'S GRILL GREEN INITIATIVE

Here’s how Wiley’s Grill is making a difference:

• We only use paper straws
• To Go orders are packaged in a recyclable/compostable/biodegradable plastic bag
• We ask if people ordering To Go want disposable cutlery instead of including it every time
• To Go cutlery is biodegradable
• Kitchen scraps are composted

Strawless Ocean Initiative

Are you following the Stop Sucking movement?  Did you know we throw away 500 million plastic straws in America every day?  The HFPD supports the Strawless Ocean initiative by not offering straws at Wiley’s Grill.  If you want a straw, we will provide one, all you have to do is ask.  However, our straws are made from compostable material.  They cost 5X as much as the cheap plastic ones that don’t compost, but we want to make a difference.  Please visit  https://www.strawlessocean.org/  to learn more about the movement to clean the oceans of plastic straws.  Pledge to become part of the solution by just saying NO to straws everywhere you go!

COYOTE RUN GOLF COURSE ENVIRONMENTAL MISSION

Coyote Run Golf Course was constructed in 2004 and opened for play in June of 2005.  Since its inception, the goal of the Coyote Run Golf Course staff has been to maintain the golf course in an environmentally sensitive manner. Click on the links below to find out how in the daily maintenance and operation of the golf course, we practice the following fundamental environmental principles:

• reduce, reuse and recycle
• conservation of scarce natural resources
• the use of safe and environmentally sensitive products and organic fertilizers
• conservation of water
• minimal pesticide use, Integrated Pest Management, (IPM)
• preserving and enhancing natural ecosystems
• promoting environmental awareness to our staff and to our golfing patrons
• mitigating floods through retention of rain water from the golf course and surrounding neighborhoods
• bio-solid organic fertility program
• equipment wash water recycling

HOLIDAY TREE & LIGHT RECYCLING AT IRONS OAKS

The holiday tree and light recycling program has collected 2,300 trees and has kept 4,020 pounds of lights out of landfills over the past three years. (hfchristmastreerecycling.com)

HOW TO COMPOST AT HOME

1.) Select a site for your pile or bin. To keep your neighbors happy, consider a discreet location. You’ll also want to locate a spot with good airflow, access to water and partial shade in the summer (to keep the pile from getting too hot), but good sun in the winter (to keep the pile warm).

2.) Choose a bin. You can purchase a composter, or make your own. Rotating bins make turning your treasure easy and keeps animals out, but it is easy to make a workable bin on your own. One simple method is to track down shipping pallets. Use one for the bottom. Pound in metal support poles and add pallets by slipping them over the support poles to make your bin’s walls. Make your pile about 3x3x3 feet. This size is big enough to create its own heat, but small enough to turn. If you are using a commercial composter you won’t need to worry about the size.

3.) Add materials. Not everything can go into the compost bin; read on to find out what can and cannot be composted.

4.) Monitor temperature, aeration, moisture and the carbon to nitrogen ratio for optimum levels.

i. Temperature
The easiest way to test your compost’s temperature is to stick your hand in the center of the pile. If it is hot or warm — good job. If it is the same temperature as the ambient air, the microbes have slowed down — and so has the composting process. You can also use a compost thermometer to take your pile’s temperature. A properly working compost pile will heat up to temperatures of 140-160°F. At these temperatures most pathogens and weed seeds are destroyed. When your pile is really “cooking,” it can reach temperatures of up to 170°F. If the temperature of your pile peaks and then starts to drop, it’s time to turn the pile.

ii. Moisture
The microbes hard at work in your compost pile require just the right amount of water. Too much means organic waste won’t decompose, too little and you’ll kill the bacteria. Compost should feel moist, but not soaking wet — like a wrung out sponge. Composting works best with 40-60% moisture content. More on monitoring compost moisture here.

Everyone needs to breathe, even tiny microorganisms, so make sure enough oxygen is getting into your pile by turning your compost often. Use a compost aerator or pitchfork to mix your pile. If you are using a compost tumbler, you’ve got it easy. Just crank that lever. If you are using easily compacted materials (such as ashes or sawdust) mix in coarser materials first. People who build large piles often add tree branches or even ventilation tubes vertically into different parts of the pile to be shaken occasionally, to maximize air circulation.

iv. Carbon to Nitrogen Ratio
For perfect compost, maintain a C:N ratio of 25 to 30 parts carbon to 1 part nitrogen, or 25-30:1. If the C:N ratio is too high (not enough nitrogen) decomposition will slow down. If the C:N ratio is too low (not enough carbon) you’ll end up with a smelly pile. Read this article on Carbon-to-Nitrogen Ratios to learn more about reaching this perfect balance between brown and green materials. In general things that are brown (dried leaves, newspaper, straw) are higher in carbon than things that are green (vegetable scraps, garden waste, grass clippings).

5.) Mix rich, earthy compost into garden soil, or pile on top of the soil as mulch.