The Season For Pumpkins And Community Recycling

It’s the time of year when we use pumpkins and gourds for display. They should not be thrown out in the trash because all parts of a healthy, untreated pumpkin can be composted, including the skin, flesh, seeds and stems. They all break down readily. You can compost at home or drop them off in the food scrap collection bins at the Orange Transfer Station and Recycling Center.

You can also feed the wildlife by chopping the pumpkin into smaller pieces and leaving it out for birds, squirrels and deer in your yard. Save the seeds from the pumpkin to plant next spring, or plant the whole pumpkin in your garden to decompose and enrich the soil.

Make a simple bird feeder by cutting a pumpkin in half, scooping out the seeds (roast them for a delicious and nutritious snack) and filling the bottom half with birdseed. Or make a pumpkin planter: cut off the pumpkin’s top, scoop out the seeds and pulp, then drill small drainage holes in the bottom. You can put a container inside filled with your favorite fall plants.

Do not compost pumpkins decorated with nontoxic materials like paint (especially latex paint) or any pumpkins with metal or plastic components, such as candles or lights.

Document Shredding, Mattress Recycling and More

"Shredding Day Plus" is on Oct. 25 at High Plains Community Center in Orange from 9 a.m. to noon. Paper shredding is a great opportunity to destroy documents containing sensitive data and prevent fraud. The secure, on-site paper shredding is handled by Orange-based Affordable Solutions. Residents can bring bags or boxes filled with documents, and volunteers will retrieve them from vehicles. Anyone wanting to keep their boxes or containers should tell a volunteer. Tax papers, bills, receipts, statements and documents that contain personal, financial and/or medical information should be shredded. Clips should be removed for reuse, but removing staples or elastic bands isn’t necessary. Do not bring shredded paper, newspapers, notebooks, plastic folders or non-confidential papers and mail – these all go into the regular residential recycling bin.

This service is for residential documents; it’s not intended for businesses or medical offices. You may bring up to six copier-sized boxes of papers at a time. If you have more, please get back in line and come through again.

Mattress recycling is so important because it keeps large, bulky items out of landfills, conserves valuable resources by reusing materials like metal springs and foam and reduces environmental pollution from methane gas and harmful leachates. It also supports the local economy by creating jobs in collection, sorting and reprocessing, and contributes to a circular economy where materials are transformed into new products like textile fibers and carpet padding. Over 75 percent of a mattress can be recycled into new materials.

The Mattress Recycling Council’s Bye Bye Mattress team will collect used mattresses and box springs of any size. But they don’t accept mattresses from futons, sofa beds or waterbeds, mattresses with bed bugs, wet, damaged or excessively soiled mattresses, sleeping bags or mattress pads and toppers.

For residents needing help, members of the Orange Lions Club will pick up mattresses and box springs, given items are outside and dry or in a garage for easy access (volunteers will not enter homes). If interested in this pick-up service, contact Ken Lenz at 203-795-3906. The fee is $15 per mattress or box spring. Payment is by cash or check made out to Orange Lions Charities, and all proceeds are considered a charitable donation. This service is funded by the Rotary Club of Orange. Residents may show appreciation by donating to the Orange Rotary Scholarship Fund. Rotarians will be there to collect donations.

Electronics recycling is a valuable e-waste management service. The recycling committee has partnered with a local firm that wipes hard drives clean of data and breaks down electronic devices for their scrap metal value while ensuring correct disposal of the remaining waste. Old cell phones, tablets and computers/laptops will be accepted for a fee of $5, $10 and $20, respectively, per item.

The Orange Community Women are collecting clothing, shoes, purses, accessories, blankets, curtains, sheets, towels and other household textiles, housewares, dishes, small appliances, home décor, toys, sporting goods and stuffed animals. They aren’t accepting books, DVDs, CDs, VHS tapes or large items.

The Facebook group "Buy Nothing Orange" hosts a swap meet where residents can “gift” items and perhaps take home something they can use.

The last day to take hazardous waste to HazWaste Central at 90 Sargent Dr. in New Haven is on Oct. 26. They will resume operations in June. You can save your hazardous waste for the next Orange HazWaste collection event on April 11.