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MARCH 2021

A Note from Jane

Thanks to Columbia’s Jim Byrum for sharing a friend’s story about when his 80-something-year-old mother asked for a new washing machine. He responded with many questions: brand, type, size, functions, color?  She just looked at her son and asked, “Can I just get one with an on and off button?”
 
Want your life to be less complicated? Begin by practicing some famous “R” words highlighted below.
 
This month let’s March forward with greener habits.

Jane Hiller
Education Director, Sonoco Recycling

Practicing "R" Words

Recycle

  1. Unincorporated Richland County residents will soon have a recycling guide attached to their recycling roll carts.
     
  2. The City of Forest Acres now has a Waste Wizard app for recycling information. Some other communities with Waste Wizard apps include The City of Columbia, Unincorporated Richland County, City of Cayce, and Unincorporated Lexington County.
     
  3. The Carolina Recycling Association has launched a podcast series. Episode #1 discusses the advantages of using plastics as lightweight packaging while addressing the risk that plastics pose to our oceans. Episode #2 discusses glass recycling. Listen to both episodes here.
     
  4. The Global E-Waste Monitor 2020 estimates only about 1/7 of the 7.6 million tons of electronic waste produced in the U.S. gets recycled. Please donate, reuse, or recycle your e-waste instead of throwing it away. Look up your city or county information here
See how all that flat cardboard you place in your roll cart gets recycled into new cardboard here

Reuse

  1. Help Keep the Midlands Beautiful put unwanted shoes to good use during their annual shoe drive fundraiser April 1 - June 1. Drop off pairs of gently worn shoes at KMB’s office, 1305 Augusta Road, West Columbia. Or, check KMB’s website for additional public drop-off locations. Businesses, schools, churches and organizations interested in hosting a public or private collection site should contact KMB. All donated shoes will help fund local KMB projects and then be redistributed through Funds2Orgs to small businesses in developing countries.
     
  2. Donate to Habitat for Humanity Restore so members of our community can reuse furniture, left over building supplies and home goods. 
     
  3. Refill your clean, dry bottles and receive a $2 discount on Wacky Wednesdays at the Crescent Olive on Devine Street.
  1. Check out the Cottontown Art Crawl March 13 (10 am - 3 pm) , an outside, free event with live local music and 82 local artists. Check out upcycled art by Ginny Merett (collage art below top left), Flavia Lovatelli (paper coil art below bottom center), Jack and Rose Boette (glass art below top right.) Other artists who will be selling upcycle art include: Russell Sox, Lisa Alberghini, Lila McCullough, Susan Lenz, Tabitha Ott, Stan Cummins, Bobby Baker and Christy Buchanan
   

Reduce

  1. To reduce demolition material in landfills, it is wise to preserve and restore old buildings. Annual awards recognize notable preservation, rehabilitation and restoration projects in Columbia and Richland County as well as the contributions of individuals or organizations to preservation efforts. Nominations are due March 2.
     
  2. To reduce plastic usage, Vertical Roots Farm in West Columbia created a new packaging system for its products that uses 30% less plastic than the previous system. The new packaging also helps keep the lettuce fresh longer and is more economical.
     
  3. To reduce the 27,000 trees cut down each day for toilet paper demand, Honeycomb has created toilet tissue from 100% sustainable bamboo.

Buy Recycled

Everlane’s best-selling Perform Leggings, made of fabric containing 58% recycled nylon, are available online and in local stores.

Welcome!

Richland County Recycling Team Members

John Ansell, new Solid Waste and Recycling General Manager, is a Western Pennsylvania native with a degree in Environmental Science. John has worked with all of SC DHEC’s Environmental Programs in regional offices since 2004.

Christopher Thompson, new Solid Waste and Recycling Manger, is a life-long resident of Columbia, a graduate of both Spring Valley High School and UofSC’s School of Business Administration. He has worked as a Manager and Director in the Transportation and Logistics industry since 1994.


Keep the Midlands Beautiful Interim Executive Manager

Dr. Gail Wilson will serve as KMB’s Interim Executive Manager through August, 2021 while continuing to serve as the Executive Director and VP of City Year Columbia. The KMB board is excited to have Gail, a respected nonprofit leader, join their senior leadership team until a permanent Executive Director is in place.
 

S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control Director

Dr. Edward Simmer was selected by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control’s board and confirmed by the Senate as DHEC’s new director. Dr. Simmer was most recently the CEO of TRICARE Health Plan.

Beyond Waste Reduction

Bikes

Columbia was recently recertified as a Bronze-level Bicycle Friendly Community. Check out the report card for Columbia and other communities. Sign up for the Walk/Bike Columbia e-newsletter.

Gardening 

newly published guide includes a list of plants currently growing in Richland County's pollinator demonstration garden at Pinewood Lake Park. The guide was designed to help residents choose plants that are suitable for our area and provide food and shelter for pollinating insects, birds and other wildlife. 

Hiking

The Palmetto Conservation Foundation has applied for a federal grant to expand the Palmetto Trail. This 26 mile extension would provide a critical link in the goal to complete 500 miles of walking trails across South Carolina. Read more here.

Webinars

The S.C. Wildlife Federation offers many great wildlife webinars. See the list here.

Upcoming Events


MARCH 4 
Paint a whale to benefit Riverbanks Zoo and Garden’s support of the Pacific Whale Foundation.
Reserve your spot at “Paint with a Twist.”
(6:30 pm -9 pm)
 
 
MARCH 12
SCWF’s “Forks, Knives and Spoonbills: A Dinner Celebrating Conservation”
To-Go Dinner from Spotted Salamander. $75 per person. Buy tickets here.
(5:30 pm-6:30 pm)
 

MARCH 13
"Yoga in the Park" at Congaree National Park 
Sign up here 
 

MARCH 14
Deadline to preorder for Richland County’s Rain Barrel and Compost Bin Sale 
Pick-Up March 20 (10 am-11 am) at Southeast Park. Contact Chenille Williams
 

MARCH 20
Keep the Midlands Beautiful will kick off the annual Great American Cleanup (March 20 – June 20) with a Spotless Service Saturday event. This will be a 7-mile cleanup blitz of Two Notch Road in Richland County. All necessary supplies for a safe and effective litter pickup will be provided. More details will follow on KMB’s website. Call 803-733-1139 or email KMB to learn more.
 

MARCH 22
The preview for the “Be Well Informed” one-hour webinar will provide an overview of well maintenance best practices, well water quality considerations, and a question and answer session. Due to COVID-19, the full version of this program along with screening for contaminants will be held on a later date. (Noon – 1 pm)
*Back to the story about buying a new washer at the top of this E-Letter, do buy an Energy Star appliance! ​​​​Learn more about these products and many more at ENERGYSTAR.gov.
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