Declare Independence from Junk Mail Reclaim your mailbox.

Get rid of unwanted mail.

It's good to recycle your junk mail.

It’s even better to stop getting it.

Each time you enter a contest or send in a

subscription or warranty card, there is a
good chance that your name and address
will be added to a mailing list. These lists
are regularly sold or traded.

Get rid of junk mail once and for all.

Send a letter with $1 by check or money
order with the date, your address, and
your name in all forms (Jane E. Smith,
Jane Smith, J.E. Smith) and write:
"Please register my name with the Mail
Preference Service."

Sign it and send to:

Mail Preference Service

Attn: Dept: 6386627
Direct Marketing Association
P.O. Box 282
Carmel, NY 10512

You’ll see a decrease in unwanted mail in

about six weeks.

Gus Lopez – 4 years of services

JULY The average adult receives 41 pounds of junk mail per year.

Gus Lopez was granted U.S. citizenship in August 2007.

He also shot the photographs in this calendar.
Back to School. Do you know the 3 Rs? Reduce, reuse, recycle
to produce less waste.
REDUCE the amount of trash discarded.
Buy items that have less packaging.
Buy in bulk, then divide into smaller sizes
using reusable containers.
Use only what you really need. Do you take
eight ketchup packets and throw away
four? Do you grab a handful of napkins
and only use one or two?
REUSE containers and products.
At work, use a ceramic coffee mug and say
goodbye to Styrofoam.
Sell or donate unwanted items instead of
throwing them away.
Borrow, rent or share items you only use
once in awhile.
RECYCLE using your Little Blue bin.
Compost most food scraps
Grasscycle lawn clippings
Mulch leaves
Buy recycled products.
Morris Jennings – 4 years of service
The Oklahoma City Animal Shelter is working toward becoming a
JUNE “No Kill” Shelter by 2010.
Pre-owned pets are too good to be through.
You can see some of the pets available for adoption at www.okc.gov/animalwelfare.
 Say “I Do” to an Adopted Pet To love, cherish and provide a good
forever home.

For a reasonable fee, you can take home

a pet that is spayed or neutered and has
up-to-date shots and a health check.

There are many wonderful pets just

waiting to be “recycled” and to live
happily ever after in a forever home.

The Oklahoma City Animal Shelter

S.E. 29th and Bryant
2811 S.E. 29th
1.5 miles east of I-35
405-297-3100

Adopt or reclaim pets from noon to

5:45 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.
Call or drop by for more information.

Sit. Stay. Come. Good Dog!

Oklahoma City provides free obedience
classes for pets adopted from its Animal
Shelter.

Kerry Wilcoxson – 9 years of service

AUGUST Each ton of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil and 7,000
gallons of water. Save a tree the easy way – reduce, reuse or recycle.way.

Use craigslist.org to buy or sell second-hand items locally. You can list for free items that you want to sell.
Better yet, you can find items that are being given away for FREE.
Make our City Beautiful for Grandchildren
Bulk Waste collection can help.
Can't give away your old shag carpet or
fix that beat up television from the ‘70s?
The thrift store won't take Uncle Ed's
ratty recliner? Don't despair!
Items that are too big to fit in a Big Blue
refuse cart can be set out on the curb
for monthly Bulk Waste collection.
Bulk Waste can be placed at the curb
up to three days before your pickup
date. Please don't make the neighbors
look at your junk by setting it out too
early.
Check the www.okc.gov website for the
list of items that can be picked up on
your Bulk Waste day.
Know your Bulk Waste day. It’s on your
water bill each month.
National Grandparents Day
September 7
Roosevelt Guyton – 41 years of service –
and four of his 18 grandchildren
Grasscycling feeds your lawn, so you may only need to fertilize once a year.
MAY Using less fertilizer will reduce pollution runoff into our waterways.
A half-acre lawn produces more than three tons (nearly 260 bags) of grass clippings a year.
Grasscycling saves an average of seven hours of work because you don’t have to empty the mower bag.
 Feed Your Landscape, Not the Landfill. Grasscycling saves time,
money and effort.

Grasscycling leaves grass clippings on

the lawn where they fall. Because
grass clippings are 75% to 85% water,
they quickly decompose and release
nutrients back into the lawn.

Here’s the "Mow Down"

Any mower can recycle grass clippings.
Just remove the grass catcher and
install a mulching blade.

Keep the lawn at a proper height. Cut

no more than one-third of the grass
blade.

Mow when the grass is dry.

Keep your mower blade sharp.

Mow more often. You’ll still save time

because you don’t bag the clippings.

Compost or mulch any excess grass.

Grass clippings don't cause thatch.

It’s caused by overgrown grass, over
fertilization and over watering.

Shaun Grayson – 1 year of service

SEPTEMBER The Bulk Waste crew will collect up to four cubic yards of
big junk – about the size of two refrigerators – for free.

Appliances containing Freon, such as old refrigerators and air conditioners, will be picked up by special arrangement.
Please remove doors and call 297-2833 to request the pickup.
Don’t Spook Mother Nature
Compost those fallen leaves.
Composting is easy and cheap.
It's good for your lawn and garden
and helps the environment by reducing
yard waste.
Do Compost:
Leaves, grass clippings (pesticide free)
Corncobs, fruit and veggie stems
Coffee and tea grounds & bags
Fruit and vegetable scraps
Breads and grains
Newspapers
Paper napkins
Don't Compost:
Dairy products
Meat, fish or bones
Fatty foods
Grease
Styrofoam or plastic
Cardboard
Pet or human waste
Diseased plants or weeds
Large branches
Elizabeth Shawn – 9 years of service
Each April, thousands of citizens participate in Litter Blitz and to help reduce
APRIL litter in Oklahoma City. For more information, go to www.okcbeautiful.com.
Litter can be accidental, but studies show that 60% of litter is deliberate.
More than 75% of littering is from pedestrians and motorists under the age of 25.
 Schedule a Saturday Morning Sweep It’s free and only offered
from April through September.

Saturday Morning Sweep is a free

program to help Oklahoma City neigh-
borhoods clean up illegal dumping,
litter, storm debris and overgrown
common areas.

City crews deliver a commercial

dumpster, trash bags, and safety
equipment. The neighborhood
provides volunteers.

Then, the City picks up the filled

dumpster and pays the disposal fees.

The Volunteer Coordinator will attend

neighborhood association meetings or
provide classroom activities to help
promote recycling.

Call 749-3092 to schedule a Saturday

Morning Sweep for your neighborhood
or a visit from the Volunteer
Coordinator, who will arrive in the
Recycle Van.

Johnnie Finley – 5 years of service

OCTOBER For more information on composting, contact the Oklahoma City Cooperative
Extension office at 713-1125 or go to http://osufacts.okstate.edu.

Recipe for Homemade Compost: Add equal parts of three basic ingredients, chopped or shredded.
1. Browns (dead leaves, branches and twigs) 2. Greens (grass clippings, vegetable and fruit scraps and coffee grounds)
3. Water, moistening dry materials as they are added. Mix well and stir frequently for about six months.
Give Thanks for Quality Services Let’s talk turkey about
Oklahoma City citizens.
In June 2007, Oklahoma City’s citizen
survey showed an 87% satisfaction rate
for solid waste collection services.
More good news
Oklahoma City's drinking water was
named the "Best of the Best" in North
America in a tasting competition
conducted by the American Water
Works Association in June 2007.
We pay about 2,000 times more for
bottled water than tap water. Plus,
plastic water bottles are made from
petroleum, a non-renewable resource.
And the not-so-good news
The City of Oklahoma City has a very
low recycling rate. Although the
Curbside Recycling Program is easy to
use (no pre-sorting required), the
average set-out rate is 17%. We could
easily improve this rate if all urban
residents used their Little Blue bins to
recycle.
Randy Smith – 9 years of service
When you take household hazardous products in original containers to the
MARCH Household Hazardous Waste Collection Facility, you can swap them for
products you need. Trade a can of paint for rose bush food.
Don’t throw household hazardous waste in the trash.
Some chemicals when mixed with others can create poisonous fumes or fire.
 Spring into Action
Save some loot. Don’t pollute.

Household Hazardous Waste can be

harmful to you and the environment.

These items should NOT be placed in your

Big Blue refuse cart or your Little Blue
recycling bin.

o Pesticides, herbicides and fertilizer

o Swimming pool chemicals
o Household cleaners and furniture polish
o Paint and thinner
o Craft and hobby supplies
o Kerosene, gasoline, motor oil
o Brake fluid, degreaser, antifreeze
o Computer equipment
o Batteries

Take these items to the Household

Hazardous Waste Collection Facility at
S.W. 15th and Portland.

9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday – Friday

8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday

For more information, call 682-7038.

It's FREE for Oklahoma City residents.

Be sure to take your city water bill for proof
of residency.
Warren Fisher – 7 years of service

NOVEMBER Where’s your Little Blue bin been? We asked in January. Now it’s November.

Did you find your Little Blue? Are you using it? If you have concerns or questions, call 297-2833.
 Share the Holiday Spirit Recycle Toys by Donating Them.
Tips for a Green Holiday
Consider the impact of your gift.
Is it environmentally friendly?
Is it made of recycled materials?
Give coupons for services: baby sitting,
cleaning, car washing or elder sitting.
How about a trip to the zoo, Myriad
Gardens, Martin Nature Park or a
sporting event?
Consider an artificial tree that can be
reused for many years.
Give the gift of time. Volunteer at a local
school, homeless shelter, church or
nonprofit organization.
Send holiday cards by e-mail (especially
those long annual letters). You'll save
money and trees.
Let your children make wrapping paper
out of paper sacks. Their wrapping paper
will be original works of art.
Use real plates, napkins and silverware
for your gatherings.
Take your Styrofoam peanuts or bubble
Robert Moody – 1 year of service wrap to a mail order business to be
reused.
The average American generates 4.4 pounds of trash a day. The U.S. consumes
FEBRUARY 30% of the world's resources but has only 4% of the world's population.
A typical family drinks 182 gallons of pop, 29 gallons of juice, 104 gallons of milk and 26 gallons of bottled water a year.
That's a lot of containers. Make sure to recycle the empty bottles.
 Love is in the Clean Air Have a heart. Be smart about
protecting the environment.

Show your love for the Earth by filling

your Little Blue recycling bin with these
recyclables:

o Glass bottles and jars

o Aluminum cans
o Tin cans
o Newspapers, magazines
o Junk mail, phone books
o Paperback books
o Plastics # 1 – 7 (no Styrofoam)

The Life of Litter in a Landfill:

Paper – 2.5 months
Orange peel – 6 months
Milk carton – 5 years
Cigarette butt – 10 to 12 years
Plastic bag – 10 to 20 years
Disposable diaper – 75 years
Tin can – 100 years
Beer can – 200-500 years
Styrofoam – Forever

William DeShield – 2 years of service

DECEMBER Want to give something away or get something free? Go to www.freecycle.org

and help reduce the amount of unwanted items being thrown into a landfill.

Concerned about toxic chemicals in toys? Go to www.healthytoys.org for information on the best and worst toys.
 AT YOUR SERVICE Solid Waste Management Employees
Oklahoma City’s Solid Waste crews hit the roads by 6 a.m. Monday through Friday
(and sometimes Saturday) despite pouring rain, freezing ice and blistering heat to
achieve their goal– to provide residents and businesses with the best possible solid
waste collection and disposal services. Crews also strive to complete their work
before 5 p.m., so they are off the streets during rush hour and away from your home
at dinner time.
You can count on these
crews to provide important
quality-of-life services.
Imagine your home,
neighborhood or our City
without a means of getting
rid of the trash. Simply
put: solid waste employees
protect our public health.
A 16-ton semi-automatic sideloader picks up Big Blue
Cart and Bin crew members deliver Big Blue refuse carts and Little
refuse carts each week.
Blue recycling bins. They also pick up damaged carts and bins and
deliver new ones.
Administrative staff employees help keep solid
waste operations running smoothly.
Weekly collection drivers – one per truck – pick up your Big Blue refuse carts and bagged yard waste.
Did you know? The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that
JANUARY 75% of what Americans throw away could be recycled.
The City provides curbside recycling to urban customers. Set your Little Blue recycling bins on the curb by 6 a.m.
on your weekly trash collection day. Call 297-2833 for a Little Blue.
 No one can do everything.
Resolve to Recycle This Year Everyone can do something.
You can make a difference.
Recycler’s Resolution 2008
Twas the month after the holidays
And all through the house
Everyone was content
Except for my spouse

From wall to wall and ceiling to floor

Stuff was crammed behind each door
In came my wife who asked once again
Where’s our Little Blue recycling bin been?

She was sorting the mess and throwing about

All sorts of recyclables we could do without
Into the bin she tossed newspapers, bottles and cans
Enough stuff to fill up three minivans.

She asked, don’t you know anything about the earth?

I gave my two cents for all that it’s worth
We live in Oklahoma where land is spacious,
explaining my apathy while remaining gracious

Don’t you get it at all? What’s the matter with you?

You can save resources if you use Little Blue
But why should I care? What can I do?
It’s really easy she said, even for you.

So, I agreed to keep some peace to start today

No longer would I throw my recyclables away
Into the bin papers, cans and bottles will be placed
This is eco-friendly; I’m decreasing landfill waste
The Little Blue will be part of my weekly routine
Now that I am learning how to go GREEN!

By Jane Rauh
Mark Rich – 6 years of service Volunteer Coordinator
Solid Waste Management

A cherry-picker collects bulk waste, including

storm debris and yard brush, each month.

Once a month, Bulk Waste employees pick up your items that are too large for Big Blue. Some heavy
items are picked up manually and some by a truck called a “cherry picker” that has an automated claw.

Inspectors are in your neighborhoods and at landfills making

sure the City’s code is enforced.
A brush truck hauls bulk waste and other
debris to the landfill.
The Litter Crew keeps the medians and public areas
clean from litter, debris, and illegal dumping.

City of Oklahoma City
Solid Waste Management
2008 Recycling Calendar
Little Blue!
with
Go Green
it hit Johnnie –
Out of the clear blue,
Recycling Facts Curbside Recycling Program
YES. Put these items in Little Blue:
Glass never wears out. It can be recycled over and over
again – forever. Plastics # 1-7
7 Plastics
Empty and rinse containers
The 37 billion aluminum cans that went to landfills last Milk, juice, pop and water bottles
year had a value of more than $600 million. Yogurt, dairy and margarine tubs
Shampoo and conditioner bottles
Americans use 100 million tin and steel cans every day. Detergent and fabric softener bottles
Prescription vials
One person uses two pine trees worth of paper products Rigid plastic cups or plates
every year. (no Styrofoam)
Clean garden pots or flats
There is no such place as "away." When you throw trash Rigid packaging material
“away,” it doesn’t go away. It goes into a landfill. (no Styrofoam)
Each time you throw away an aluminum can, it is about Paper
the same as pouring out 6 ounces of gasoline. Recycled Newspaper
aluminum saves up to 95% of the energy needed to Shredded paper
produce new aluminum. Advertising inserts
Junk mail and envelopes
Used motor oil can be recycled into new oil or used as Paperback books
raw materials. If all Americans who change their own oil Magazines and catalogs
recycled it, there would be enough motor oil for more than Phone books
50 million cars a year.
Aluminum and Tin Cans
Look for the “chasing arrows” Empty and rinse.
No need to remove labels.
Aluminum cans
The arrow indicates the item is recyclable, and the number Steel or tin cans
tells what plastic it is. Numbers 1 – 7 (except Styrofoam) Clean aluminum foil and foil trays
are collected in Oklahoma City’s Curbside Recycling
Program. Glass
Empty, rinse and remove lids.
No need to remove labels.
Glass bottles and jars – any color
Mason jars
employee
Management
Solid Waste
Johnnie Finley,
NO. These items are not accepted:
No food residue or garbage
Styrofoam containers, trays, cups or plates
(even those with recycle symbol 6)
Styrofoam blocks or packing peanuts
Blister packs or bubble wrap
Plastic film shopping bags or dry cleaner bags
Plastic stretch wrap
5-gallon bottles
Toxic containers* (motor oil, etc.)
Automotive plastics*
Household or storage containers
Hoses or lawn furniture
Paper
Soiled or wet newspaper
Bathroom tissue
Food-soiled paper (pizza or fast food boxes)
Disposable diapers or rags
Ribbons or wrapping paper
Hardback books
Frozen-food boxes
Coated containers (juice boxes or milk cartons)
Cardboard
Wax or plastic coated cardboard
Cereal, food or gift boxes
Glass Metals
Mirrors Aerosol cans or paint cans*
Window glass Hangers
Ceramics or dishes Metal caps or lids
Broken glass Oil containers*
Light bulbs Scrap metal
Pots or pans
* Take these items to the
Household Hazardous Waste
Collection Facility.