Keep America Beautiful-Topeka/Shawnee County
Celebrates Earth Day with
Free Events for Residents of Shawnee County,
Great American Cleanup Activities and Volunteer Opportunities
In recognition of the Keep America Beautiful Great American Cleanup, and in celebration of Earth Day the following services will be offered to residents of Shawnee County, free of charge (except where noted):
Saturday, June 12—Free confidential paper shred
Sponsored by Capitol Federal, bring paper to Crestview Park Shelter-4901 SW Shunga – 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
Saturday, June 19–– Free landfill day
Rolling Meadows Recycling and Disposal Facility will offer a free landfill day, sponsored by Waste Management of Kansas, Inc. The landfill located at 7351 N.W. Highway 75 will be open from 7 a.m. to Noon. To be eligible for free disposal all loads must be covered, contain no tires, hazardous waste items or appliances that contain Freon, no E-waste or PCB containing items. One load per customer. The free disposal of trash is available for individual Shawnee County residents only, no businesses. For more information, contact: 246-0305. In the event of inclement weather, June 27th will be the rain date for the Free Landfill day. Please call to verify.
Saturday, July 17—Free Yard Waste Disposal
Forestry Products Recycling, owned and operated by Custom Tree Care, will offer free disposal of yard waste for all Shawnee County residents. The hours will be 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at 3431 SE 21st. They will accept trees, limbs, leaves and grass. All loads should be covered or secured. The free day is available to all residents of Shawnee County, no businesses. For more information, contact 478-9805.
Other Great American Cleanup services and events include:
March 1 through May 31-Advantage Metals and Scrap Management of Topeka, in partnership with the Keep American Beautiful-Topeka/Shawnee County program, is continuing their sponsorship of an aluminum can recycling program. Tell them you are with Keep America Beautiful and you will receive a five cent bonus over market price on each pound of cans recycled.
**Advantage Metals, 1628 NW Gordon. Hours are: Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. and Saturday 8:00 a.m. – noon.
**Scrap Management 503 SE Branner. Hours are Monday through Friday 8am-4:30pm and Saturday 8am-noon.
June 5 from 9 a.m. – noon –-Shawnee County Household Hazardous Waste Special Collection Event – sponsored by Shawnee County Solid Waste Department. Collection of wastes such as household cleaners, pesticides, paint, batteries, outdated medication, sharps & similar products. Electronics and four tires per household will be collected free of charge (except fee for some televisions and computer monitors). Open to Shawnee County residents, households only, no businesses. Just East of Topeka Blvd. & North 46th Street. For questions call 286-4381.
June 20—Summer Solstice Garden Party at Ted Ensley Gardens, Lake Shawnee 5:30-8:30 p.m.
Volunteer opportunities include:
Please RSVP to Philicia kab@kabtopsh.org or 224-0446 for these events.
May 22–Adopt-A-Piece of History at the Topeka Cemetery–Participants will mow, trim, do general cleanup, and lift stones from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. to help prepare the cemetery for Memorial Day. Individuals are asked to provide their own equipment. Free lunch to volunteers at noon. Located at 1601 SE 10th.
June 5—Waterfront Warriors 9 – 11 a.m. Volunteers will help cleanup a waterway
June 26—The KAB X-Treme Team—Volunteers will cleanup up some of our most littered areas from 9 – 11 a.m.
June 29—Weed Elimination Day at Ted Ensley Gardens—Volunteers will help pull weeds at the gardens from 9 a.m. – noon.
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After much deliberation, we made the difficult decision to postpone Get Down and Get Dirty this year due to all the covid restrictions. Most of you wanted to wait until next year and keep it an Earth Day Celebration and tradition. The new date will be April 23, 2022.
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How to recycle in Topeka and Shawnee County.
Please help us recycle properly in Shawnee County. Regardless of your recycling service provider, here is what you can and cannot recycle in your curbside containers. And please, do not bag your recyclables.
Accepted in curbside and public drop off bins: Cardboard, Office Paper, Magazines, Junk Mail, Paper Sacks, Cereal and Cracker Boxes, Aluminum and Tin cans, Clean Aluminum Foil, Plastic Water Bottles, Plastic Buckets, Plastic Bottles & Tubs #1, #2, & #5.
Not Accepted: Plastic Grocery Bags, Pizza Boxes, Styrofoam of any Kind, Paper Plates, Milk Cartons or Juice Boxes, Used Motor Oil Bottles, Anything with Food Waste on it, Plastic #3, #4, #6, , Anything Not on the List Above, AND GLASS.
GLASS – Any glass that is placed in the recycling container does not get recycled. It is processed out of the recycle stream and ends up in the landfill. If you would like to recycle glass, please deposit your glass in one of our purple glass containers. We are looking to add more glass containers to make it more convenient to recycle glass. The current locations for these are:
Auburn—District 2 SNCO Public Works Bldg.—1639 N. Washington St, Monday-Fri 7 am-3:30 pm
Rossville—Wehner’s Thriftway—551 E. US Highway 24 Traffic Way
Tecumseh—Albert Neese Masonic Lodge—5947 SE 45th Street
Topeka—The First Congregational Church at 1701 SW Collins Ave has graciously offered to host a Glass Recycling box in their parking lot. If you choose to use this location for your glass recycling, please keep the area clean.
Topeka—Household Hazardous Waste Facility—131 NE 46th Street, M-F, 6:30am-4:30pm
Topeka—Lowes—1621 SW Arvonia Place
Topeka—Mission Township Fire Department—3101 SW Urish Road
Wakarusa—Glaciers Edge Winery—1636 SE 85th
Please remember, curbside recycling is a free service that Shawnee County Solid Waste offers to their customers. If you would like to opt out of the recycling program, please call 233-4774 to arrange to have your container picked up. If you have any questions, feel free to email us at solidwaste@snco.us
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If you pick up litter when you walk for exercise, you are considered a KAB Trash Trooper. This is information that we track for funding, grant opportunities, and donations. Please let me know if you are a Trash Trooper. Welcome to Deb and Randy Debenham, Dick and Mrs. Edington, and Cindi Skinner, our newest Trash Troopers!
Don’t forget to FOLLOW us on facebook at kab@kabtopsh.org
