Good news, neighbors! As of March 1, Winnetka Heights has become part of the city’s One Day trash and recycling collection program. This means that our garbage and recycling will be collected once a week. Our new pick-up day is Tuesday. Your pick-up site will be the same. So, if your trash and recycling were previously picked up in your alley, continue to place them there. Same for if your pick-up site was curbside.

If anyone is in need of a recycling bin, please contact me at green@winnetkaheights.org. Also, if you have had any problems with your garbage or recycling pick-up, contact Sanitation Services at 214-670- 4475 to have the issue resolved, as opposed to calling 311.

As a reminder, please be sure to close the lids on your bins. Standing water can accumulate in your bins after some rainfall and we definitely don’t want to increase Winnetka Heights’ mosquito population! As a reminder, the items that can be placed in your recycling bin are as follows:
Plastic – Containers with the recycling symbol for numbers 1-7. No plastic bags, no Styrofoam, no chemical containers, no toys
Glass – Clear or colored food and drink containers. No window glass, no light bulbs, no ceramics, no mirrors, no pyrex, no fiberglass.
Metal – Aluminum, tin, and steel containers. No foil, no pie plates, no parts, no toys, no electronics, no appliances.
Paper – Newspapers with inserts, junk mail, office paper (paperclips and staples are ok), window envelopes, magazines, catalogues, paperback books, and brown paper bags. No rubber bands, no plastic wrappings, no hardback books.

Cardboard – Food and detergent boxes, paper egg cartons, 12-pack drink cartons, folded corrugated boxes, cereal boxes. No waxed cardboard, no plastic or foil lining from cereal or cracker boxes, no pizza boxes or food contaminated boxes.

As always, please remember to rinse containers well!

Title: Super Recycling Spring Roundup
Location: Oak Cliff Presbyterian Church 6000 S. Hampton Road, 75232 (Shred pod)
Link out: Click here
Description: Collect and recycle the following:Televisions
Toys
Clothing
Used books
Scrap metal
Paper
Plastics (#1-7)
Tires (Limit 3 please)Electronic items (E-Waste)-
Video games
Cell phones
Computers
Calculators
Printers

And More!
Start Time: 10:00
Date: 2009-05-16
End Time: 18:00

Mayor Tom Leppert is proclaiming March 28, 2009 as Earth Hour Day in Dallas.

What is Earth Hour? Earth Hour is 8:30 pm – 9:30 pm (local time) Saturday, March 28, 2009. During this hour, people around the globe will turn out their non-essential lighting in what will be the largest climate event in history. From Amman to Warsaw, city skylines will go dark for one hour as individuals, businesses, government buildings, schools and major landmarks turn out the lights.

Who can participate? Anyone! Individuals, businesses, schools, organizations…you name it! If you have a light switch—turn it off for this one hour. Earth Hour’s goal is 1 billion participants in 1000 cities around the world.

Want to join us? Sign up to participate and be counted! Visit
Earth Hour US and click on the orange “Sign Up Now” button at the top.

History of Earth Hour: Earth Hour began in 2007 as 2.2 million people turned out their lights in Sydney, Australia in a stand against climate change. From the famed Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge to skyscrapers and individual homes, Sydney went dark.

During Earth Hour 2008, the event grew as more than 50 million people in 400 cities on all seven continents turned off their lights and major icons also went dark, including the Coliseum in Rome, Stockholm’s Royal Castle, the Empire State Building and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Google turned its homepage black for an entire day in tribute.

In 2009, Dallas will officially support Earth Hour as tens of millions of people from all corners of the world unite in a call for global action on climate change.

Dallas residents throughout the city are encouraged to turn off their lights for the event. The central focus of Dallas’ Earth Hour celebration will be the downtown area – watch the famous Dallas skyline dim.

Learn more about Earth Hour US

Hello neighbors! My name is Erin Slettebo and I am Winnetka Heights’ new Green Leader. As Green Leader, I will be your go-to person for all issues involving recycling, from blue bins to e-waste drop off. I will also post green living tips in the forum… please feel free to add your own as well!

The City of Dallas has a new program called One Day Dallas. This is a once a week garbage and recycling pick up service, meaning that the goal is for both trash and recycling to be picked up once a week. The city plans to implement the program in phases, with the first in our district occurring within the Kiestwood neighborhood. Kiestwood was chosen for once a week recycling pickup because they presently recycle more than any other neighborhood within our district. The Kiestwood neighborhood consists of a little over 400 homes, compared to over 500 in Winnetka Heights. This means we need to do our part for the planet and amp up our recycling efforts!

If anyone is in need of a blue bin for recyclables, please contact me at green@winnektaheights.org. It would be beneficial if several blue bins could be delivered to the neighborhood at once in order to conserve resources.

I know there tends to be some confusion as to what can and cannot be placed in the blue recycling bins. Items that can be recycled are…

- Paper: Newspapers and inserts, magazines, catalogs, phone books, office paper, mail and junk mail
- Flattened cardboard: Boxes, chipboard (cereal boxes, etc.), not food-contaminated boxes.
- Plastic Containers: All with numbers 1-7, except for Styrofoam. “Rigid” 6 is accepted. Rinsed flower pots can be recycled as well.
- Metals: Steel, tin, aluminum and aerosol cans
- Glass: Unbroken and rinsed bottles and jars of all colors.

Items that cannot be recycled…
- Waxed cardboard – including milk containers
- Styrofoam peanuts
- Wet paper products
- Plate glass (doors, windows)
- Batteries
- Light bulbs
- Waxed paper
- Coat hangers
- Electronics
- Plastic Grocery Bags

Be sure to rinse all containers you place into your blue bins. Items that are not rinsed may contaminate other items in your bin, causing them to be dumped into the trash.