Southeast Messenger - March 8th, 2020

PAGE 12 - SOUTHEAST MESSENGER - March 8, 2020
Abrakadoodle Art Night
Abrakadoodle Art Night is where adult and child will paint
their own canvas together. For kdis ages 5-12. Cost is $3 per
adult and child plus $1 each additional child. Class held on
March 16 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at KidSpace, 630 Wirt Road,
Groveport. Pay and register by March 13. Dress for painting. Call
614-836-3333.
Be a Part of Our
Local Worship Guide
Our upcoming Worship Guide is geared toward
celebrating faith and helping readers connect with
religious resources in our community. Make sure these
readers know how you can help with a presence in this
very special section distributed to more than 20,000
households in the Southeast area.
The cost is $20 per issue. (must run twice)
Contact us today to secure your spot in Worship Guide.
614.272.5422 • kathy@columbusmessenger.com
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SWACO released a study documenting that up to 76
percent of the material currently being sent to the
Franklin County Sanitary Landfill could be recycled or
composted. The study also found that of those discarded
materials, the items presenting the biggest opportunities
for increasing diversion were food scraps and
corrugated cardboard.
The study was completed last year and conducted
over the course of four seasons by Cascadia Consulting
Group and MSW Consultants. During the study period,
180 commercial and residential trash samples,
weighing 39,000 pounds in total, were collected and
analyzed. The materials were sorted into 64 categories
and evaluated based on weight, material type, and
recyclability to determine what’s being thrown away
and how much of it has the potential to be diverted
from the landfill.
The top 10 items most commonly found in Franklin
County’s waste stream are: food scraps, corrugated
cardboard, other compostable items and fiber, magazines,
newspaper, office and other paper, bulky and
durable goods, construction and demolition, plastic
containers, wood pallets, textiles, and yard waste.
Combined, these items make up 68 percent or
772,234 tons of the material being landfilled.
The three most prevalent items in Franklin
County’s waste stream are food scraps, corrugated
cardboard and compostable items and fiber. All of
these items can either be recovered through currently
offered programs or have the potential to be captured
and diverted if new programs and services were established.
“While we weren’t surprised to learn that so much
food was coming to the landfill, we remain committed
to decreasing landfill disposal of all types of materials,
and we’re already at work helping to support rescuing
edible food and redirecting it to families and individuals
in need. We’re also working to increase opportunities
for composting of inedible food and encouraging
waste reduction practices to avoid the creation of waste
in the first place,” said Kyle O’Keefe, SWACO’s director
of innovation and programs.
In fact, when evaluating Franklin County’s potential
to increase diversion based on the waste stream,
the study found that of the 76 percent of the material
currently being sent to the landfill which could be recycled
or composted, 41 percent could be diverted today
www.columbusmessenger.com
Much of what goes into landfill could be recycled
Special Olympics donations
Groveport Special Olympics plans to ask for donations
at the intersections of Main Street and Hendron
Road, Main Street and College Street, Main Street at
Front Street, and at the traffic light on Main Street at
Kroger in Groveport on May 2 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
For information contact Penny and Cassandra Hilty
at groveportspecialolympics@gmail.com or at (614)
395-8992 or 395-6640. Donations may be sent to
Groveport Special Olympics, P.O. Box 296, Groveport,
OH 43125.
Groveport history films
Two documentary films on the history of Groveport,
produced by the Groveport Heritage Society and
Midnet Media, are now available for viewing online on
YouTube.
The films are: “Groveport: A Town and Its People”
and “The Story of John S. Rarey and Cruiser.” The
films were originally made about 15 years ago.
around the Southeast
through existing programs and an additional 35 percent
has the potential to be diverted with new programs
and infrastructure.
In November 2019, SWACO reported that Franklin
County had reached a 50 percent diversion rate which
is one of the highest rates in the Midwest and exceeds
the national average yet, the county still landfills over
a million tons of waste every year. SWACO has set a
goal to help residents and businesses in Franklin
County divert 75 percent of their waste from the landfill.
In order for the community to reach those goals,
SWACO is using the data from the waste characterization
study to make informed decisions regarding the
creation of new programs aimed at increasing the
diversion of a wide range of materials. In the last year
alone, SWACO introduced new programs to help thousands
of residents recycle more of the materials generated
at home, facilitate reducing food waste occurring
in school cafeterias and to promote the composting of
food scraps at home and at area businesses. Those programs
include the Recycle Right, Make a Difference
campaign, Residential Recycling Cart Initiative,
SWACO’s Community Consortium Program and the
Central Ohio Food Waste Initiative.
The study also assessed the value of the materials
being landfilled and which are currently accepted for
recycling through Franklin County’s curbside, drop-off,
and other recycling programs (which include: paper,
cardboard, plastic bottles and jugs, glass bottles, metal
cans). Those materials are estimated to have a market
value of approximately 23 million dollars.
“It’s easy to connect how reducing our waste and
increasing our recycling is good for the environment,
but what isn’t always immediately obvious is the economic
benefit of recycling too,” said O’Keefe. “When we
throw away items that have the potential to be recycled,
we miss the opportunity to create the jobs needed
to turn those materials into new products as well as
the millions of dollars that could be reinvested right
here in the central Ohio region.”
Later this year, SWACO will launch new educational
programs for capturing and recovering food waste,
including funding drop-off composting sites in a number
of Franklin County cities, and will unveil new
resources to assist area businesses start up and
expand recycling programs.
Groveport Heritage Museum
The Groveport Heritage Museum contains photographs,
artifacts, and documents about Groveport’s
history. The museum is located in Groveport Town
Hall, 648 Main St., and is open during Groveport Town
Hall’s operating hours. Call 614-836-3333.
The museum is currently undergoing a redesign
that will make it more welcoming for visitors. The
redesign should be completed in a few weeks. However,
the museum will remain open during the redesign.
Drug Drop Box
The Madison Township Police Department provides
an opiate prescription “Drug Drop Box” for the community.
This drop box is located in the lobby of the
Madison Township Police Department, 4567 Madison
Lane, and is accessible to the public during normal
office hours Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Any person can walk-in and dispose of new or old pills,
including prescription medications, or any other illegal
substances and place them into this box with no questions
asked.