Township hopes to keep holidays environmentally sound
By: Joseph Harvie
Dreaming of a green Christmas?
Probably not, but township Recycling Coordinator Nancy Paquette says it’s the way to go this year.
When unwrapping holiday presents in the coming weeks, Ms. Paquette said, she wants residents to remember Mother Earth before throwing the wrapping paper in the garbage.
"It is recyclable," Ms. Paquette said. "Unless it’s metallic paper."
Wrapping paper is just one of the things common to the holiday season that can be recycled, Ms. Paquette said.
She said that cardboard packaging is also recyclable as long as there is no plastic on it.
"All of this gift giving generates lots of stuff that can or should be recycled rather than landfilled," Ms. Paquette said. "It is not hard to have a recycling box and/or paper bag designated for recycling during gift giving."
Ms. Paquette said that recycling could also save homeowners cash. She said that it costs 6 cents per pound to take garbage to the landfill and 2 cents per pound of recycled materials.
In addition, plastic foam packaging peanuts can also be brought to certain locations, such as UPS stores and Mailboxes Etc, and can be reused by those companies, Ms. Paquette said.
There are UPS locations at 2227 Route 1 in North Brunswick, 10 Schalks Crossing Road in Plainsboro, 426 Main St. in Spotswood, 295 Princeton Hightstown Road in West Windsor and 301 Harrison Street in Princeton.
Ms. Paquette also wants to remind people to remember to recycle soda bottles, aluminum cans and milk and juice containers.
To check if a plastic item is a recyclable, look at the bottom of the container, which should have arrows that form a triangle. Inside the triangle there should be a number. Any item with numbers one or two are recyclable, Ms. Paquette said.
Number one containers are polyethylene terephthalate, and are commonly found in plastic soda bottles. Number two containers are high-density polyethylene and are commonly used to make milk and juice jugs.
Ms. Paquette also requested that residents not throw plastic bags in recycling bins or place recyclable materials in plastic bags before placing them in recycling containers, except for shredded paper, because it could become a litter issue.
Anyone with any additional questions can contact Ms. Paquette at (732) 329-4000 ext. 7274.

