Bulletin Board

Earth Machine Compost Bin and Systern Rain Barrel Sale

Earth Machine Compost BinSaturday June 1, 9 a.m. — 4 p.m.

There's no better way to welcome Spring! Westmoreland Cleanways is pleased to present a one-day-only backyard compost bin and rain barrel distribution event on Saturday, June 1, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.* (or until all bins are sold) at the GreenForge Building parking lot, 229 Donohoe Road, Greensburg, PA 15601.

SYSTERN Rain BarrelThis exciting green initiative will feature The Earth Machine™ Backyard Compost Bin and the SYSTERN Rain Barrel. Both products will be available to area residents on a first come, first served basis. Earth Machine™ Backyard Compost Bins and SYSTERN Rain Barrels will be available for only $55.00 and $65.00, respectively, tax included. This is a significant savings from the regular retail prices of $100.00 and $120.00. Call the office at 724-836-4129 for more information.


**This sale is first come, first served, while supplies last, no rain checks. **
However, to ensure a rain barrel or compost bin it is possible to pre-order:

2013 Great American Cleanup of PA — March 1st through May 31st
Registration is Now Open

Litter CleanupParticipants in the 2013 Great American Cleanup of PA can clean up unsightly litter and trash despoiling our landscape.  If litter is not a problem in your community, you may also choose to tackle other projects such as tree plantings, recycling collections, educational programs, or other beautification projects.

All events must be registered for the Great American Cleanup of PA to qualify for free cleanup supplies (trash bags, gloves, and safety vests). These supplies can be picked up from Westmoreland Cleanways or PennDOT district offices. Click here to register.

Pennsylvania residents who schedule their cleanups during "Let's Pick It Up PA-Everyday" (April 20 through May 6) will also qualify for free trash disposal at participating landfills.   If you are not registering an event, but would still like to participate click here to find an event to join.

For more information visit the Great American Cleanup of PA website.

Yough River Canoe Cleanup with Allegheny CleanWays
Sunday May 19, 10 a.m. — 1 p.m.

Westmoreland Cleanways is partnering with Allegheny CleanWays' Tireless Project to clean the section of the Yough River that forms the border between Allegheny and Westmoreland Counties. This is a fairly shallow section of the Yough, so we'll only use canoes (from the Fish and Boat Commission) on this one. You must pre-register to use one of our canoes, but you can also bring your own if you prefer.

We'll be meeting at the boat access in Sutersville, PA and going downstream to Buena Vista. Directions to Sutersville Boat Ramp (near Sutersville Playground) from I-70: Take PA-136 to West Newton. Turn Right onto North Water Street; turn left onto Robertson Street, and then a slight right onto Sutersville Road. Sutersville Road becomes 2nd Avenue; turn left onto Locust Avenue; right onto 1st Avenue; second left onto Cedar Street.

As always, refreshments and all necessary supplies and instructions will be provided. You supply the willingness. Please wear long pants and sturdy, closed-toe shoes or boots.

To register and reserve a canoe from the PA Fish and Boat Commission, please visit the Allegheny CleanWays website.

Sue Wiseman $1,000 Scholarship

Piggy BankThe Sue Wiseman Scholarship is open to Pennsylvania high school seniors who have initiated and carried out a personal project that addresses one of Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful's focus areas of Prevent It, Clean It, or Keep It. Projects can include, but are not limited to: community cleanups, plantings and beautification efforts, community recycling efforts, community education, or other ways to make your community clean, beautiful, and vibrant. Projects that improve and involve the community and whose benefits are long lasting will be given precedence.

Sue Wiseman Scholarship applications are now available online. Deadline is May 1, 2013. Last year, this statewide scholarship was awarded to a student from Mt. Pleasant High School. Let's continue to keep the scholarship in Westmoreland County.

(The scholarship is named for Sue Wiseman whose commitment and dedication to a cleaner environment led to the founding of PA CleanWays, which is now Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful.)

DEP Grants Now Open

The DEP announced the opening of a 902 grant round for recycling equipment (through May 31, 2013), and the availability of 904 grant applications for recycling performance (through September 30, 2013). Grant application forms can be downloaded from Westmoreland Cleanways' Municipal Support page. Call the office for information and assistance in completing either application.

2013 Westmoreland Cleanways Calendar of Events

Coordinate your schedule with our 2013 Calendar of Events. We'll be back with hard-to-recycle collections, the HHW collection, cleanups and more.

Electronics Recycling Programs

The deadline for implementation of Pennsylvania's Covered Devices Recycling Act (CDRA) was January 24, 2013. Most waste haulers serving Westmoreland County are no longer accepting the banned electronics: TVs, computers, monitors, and computer peripherals. The Latrobe Transfer Station and the landfills (Valley, Greenridge, and Sanitary Landfill) are also no longer accepting them.

Westmoreland County residents and small businesses have several options now, and more will be cropping up in the coming months. All electronic items can be recycled, at no cost.

Telephone Directory Recycling – Then

Step into the Way-back Machine with me to a time when Westmoreland Cleanways (then PA CleanWays of Westmoreland County) used to conduct an annual telephone directory collection because we had no other means to recycle them. Verizon funded the program, and Waste Management provided special roll-off containers, which they moved around the county, where residents could bring their old directories when the new ones were released. The directories were delivered to area farmers, who shredded them for use as animal bedding.

Verizon at the time commissioned a study to determine if their money was being used wisely in funding the phone book collections, not only here but across the East Coast. The study found that most of the farmers surveyed preferred shredded paper over straw because it is much more absorbent. As a result, the barns were cleaner; there was less slippage among the livestock, resulting in fewer injuries and lower mortality rate.

Westmoreland County farmers still use shredded paper (newsprint and telephone books) for animal bedding. Check out our Recycling Resources page of the website for a farmer near you.

Telephone Directory Recycling – Now

Westmoreland County recycling has come a long way in 10 years. Telephone directories can now be recycled in your residential curbside recycling bin if your community has switched to single-stream collection (most curbside programs have). For residents who do not have curbside recycling, check Westmoreland Cleanways' Recycling Guide, Page 49, for a drop-off location near you. NOTE: Phone books CANNOT be recycled in the Abitibi Paper Retriever bins.

According to Yellowbook, new directories will be delivered any time between now and mid-May. Check out Yellowbook's flyer for information on recycling phone books, ordering additional directories, or opting out of future deliveries.

Worn But Not Worn Out – Give Your Old Shoes A New Life

Westmoreland Cleanways is excited to announce a new partnership with Shoebox Recycling to collect usable footwear and put it to a much better use than landfilling. ShoeBox Recycling collects "worn but not worn out" shoes and sends them to developing countries, where they are distributed to people who truly need them. Some of the many benefits of the program are to decrease foot-borne illness, create economic opportunities in the local economies, keep a small piece of over 300 million pairs of shoes out of the landfill, and to support Westmoreland Cleanways' educational and outreach programs. Drop-off boxes are now located at Westmoreland Cleanways' Donohoe Road office, Chambers Hall at the University of Pitt-Greensburg campus, and in Founders Hall at Westmoreland County Community College's Youngwood Campus. Click here for collection sites and the types of shoes we can accept. If you would like to host a collection site for Westmoreland Cleanways, please contact us at 724-836-4129.

Search the Web – and give back to Westmoreland Cleanways

Stop and think about how many times a day you search the Internet. Is it once? Twice? Five times a day? Search the Web using GoodSearch.com and get the most relevant results including video, images and more powered by Yahoo! search technology. Each time you search the Web, you earn about a penny for Westmoreland Cleanways.

Ordering pizza for a party? Going out to dinner for your anniversary? Register for GoodDining and you can earn up to 6% of your total bill, including tax and tip, as a donation for Westmoreland Cleanways when you dine at any one of the more than 10,000 participating restaurants bars or clubs across the nation 365 days a year.

Add the GoodToolbar to your Internet browser and never miss an opportunity to donate to Westmoreland Cleanways. You can search the Internet from the search bar. Also a part of the toolbar will light up when you are shopping online at a GoodShop partner site notifying you of donation opportunities and alerting you to coupons and discounts available from the merchant. *Based on the average merchant partner donation of 3%.

The 2013 Recycling Guide is Available Online

A downloadable Recycling Guide for Westmoreland County is available. For the most extensive, up-to-date information on recycling opportunities in our county, download the Recycling Guide.

TALKING TRASH WITH WESTMORELAND CLEANWAYS: FEATURED ON 1480 WCNS AM RADIO'S SATURDAY MORNING "TALK BLOCK"

1480 WCNS AM Radio's Saturday morning show, Talk Block, features "Talking Trash with Westmoreland Cleanways" from 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. on the first Saturday of each month. Talking Trash covers a variety of programs and services offered by Westmoreland Cleanways and of importance to our residents. If you would like to hear about a particular topic or if you would like to have a question answered during the show, email ekeefe@westmorelandcleanways.org.

Listen online at 1480 WCNS.

Find a link on our site that doesn't work? Can't find updated information?

We are continually updating our website to provide residents with the most current information and recycling opportunities available. If there is information that you cannot access or locate, please call our office at (724) 836-4129. We welcome and appreciate your feedback!

Thank you to all of our Sponsors, Vendors, Board and Dedicated Volunteers who helped make our Collections a success!

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