Scarlett Siegel is a rising senior at Staples High School. This summer, she is interning in the 1st Selectwoman’s Office.
Her environmental and socially conscious efforts began when she joined Staples’ Coastal Cleanup Crew. She helped found OneWestport, a service club where she is vice president of social justice and activism.
Scarlett has lived in Westport since preschool. She hopes to keep our town as beautiful as it is now, for the generations to come. She writes:
Like many others, I have spent my summer days strolling down Main Street, visiting Compo with friends, and riding my bike along Beachside Avenue.
Yet I often find myself sidestepping broken and jagged glass on my walks.
I decided to do some research into glass recycling, and learned about Westport’s Glass Recycling Program, at the transfer station on the Sherwood Island Connector.
People bring their beverage bottles and food jars; they’ll be discarded and recycled safely.
Of course, there are some do’s and don’ts. According to Sustainable Westport:
- Do make sure all items are empty, rinsed, and clean.
- Do make sure bottle caps are on the bottles — or take them off and place them in the trash.
- Don’t shred, box, bag, or bundle items. That includes using plastic bags to collect and dump your recyclable materials.
- Don’t put paper food take-out containers in your recycling. They can’t be recycled because they are too soiled; and may be plastic-lined or compostable.
Glass can be extremely dangerous to humans and wildlife when not discarded properly.
Coastal Cleanup Crew co-founder Ryland Noorily, says, “the glass recycling program will separate glass from the other vulnerable materials — recyclable plastics and papers — and maximize our recycling potential”.
Let’s join together to keep this town a beautiful and thriving ecosystem, and make sure we have plenty of beautiful Westport summers in the years ahead.
Courtesy : https://06880danwoog.com/2022/08/14/glass-recycling-dos-and-donts/
