Here are the top five reasons to participate:

• It’s easy.
• It’s free.
• It pays.
• It saves.
• It’s green.

Recycling the unit can have the impact of taking two cars off the road for a year. By ensuring your old unit is safely and responsibly recycled, you save it from rusting away in a landfill and instead re-purpose the materials back into the manufacturing stream.

“Old refrigerators and freezers can use up to three times the energy of newer models and are often expensive to run,” said Tamara Sondgeroth, Focus on Energy’s Director of Operations. “These older devices can be big contributors to household energy costs because of their inefficiency.”

PP:http://www.hngnews.com/poynette_press/news/local/

Oviedo, Winter Springs lead the way in recycling

While nearby cities including Winter Park struggle to improve recycling up to state standards, Oviedo and Winter Springs continue to lead the way in the push toward lofty statewide goals for recycling and sustainability.

New 96-gallon recycling carts were distributed to Oviedo residents last December, replacing the previous 18-gallon bins at homes at no additional charge.

The All-In-One cart system allows residents to recycle paper, plastic, cardboard, aluminum, metal canisters and glass all from one container.

But that doesn’t mean everything made from metal or plastic can be tossed in the bins; Items that can’t be recycled yet commonly end up in the bins include aerosol cans, aluminum foil, batteries, light bulbs and Styrofoam.

Residents in apartments and condominiums have their own options too. Anyone without curbside recycling can drop off recyclables in bins behind Oviedo City Hall, located at 400 Alexandria Blvd.

Oviedo leads the way for reusing trash in Seminole County, recycling 35 percent of its waste each year, according to figures reported in 2012.

In 2008 the state set a goal of recycling 75 percent of its waste by 2020. No Central Florida cities have reported hitting that number yet.

Oviedo accounted for more than 25 percent of all recycling in Seminole County last year, Mayor Dominic Persampiere said.

 Written By Tim Freed:  July 11, 2014

SOME COUNTIES ARE FALLING BEHIND

HOLMES COUNTY New figures from the Florida Department of Environmental Regulation show recycling rates are up statewide. Some areas are doing a better job than others. Holmes county officials say re-educating consumers is a vital part of the process.

Floridians seem to be taking better care of the environment. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection says recycling statewide is up one percent from last year, when the state recycled 11.8 million tons of trash.

In 2012, that amount was just 9.7 million tons.

“I think it’s wonderful that maybe we’re getting more people involved in recycling,” said Holmes County Recycling Center Coordinator Ann Payne. “The more people that will recycle, the better for all of us in the future. Our children, grandchildren.”

Monday officials at the Holmes County Recycling Center were processing more than 100 tons of cardboard.

The center receives everything from cardboard and plastic to old T.V’s and tires. It’s a lot of junk, but Payne wishes there was more.

Many items that come to the recycling center such as paper and plastic are from the public, but Payne says many people still use hazardous ways to get rid of their trash.

“We’re so rural that people in the past have either, burned any kind of cardboard and paper type products. Landfill, or a lot of people use to just dig holes in the area and bury their trash. The fire of course, with the dry areas we’ve had and all the problems, we could get the wildfires. Also, burying things, it can leech down into our water aquifer and contaminate water,” she explained.

Last year the center took in more than 277 tons of cardboard and more than 65 tons of tires.

Payne says the county plans to use advertising and summer programs to make people even more aware of recycling efforts.

Holmes County was ranked 25 out of 45 counties, with a 28% recycling rate.