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You know about recycling your paper, plastics and soda cans but what about recycling Mother Nature? Yes, even the fallen leaves from the trees can be recycled. Recently the City of Chattanooga’s Department of Public Works announced that they will begin a loose leaf collection from November to February. Here’s the information they provide:
“Public Works crews will collect loose leaves on each residential street two times during the season. Bagged leaves, loose leaves, and brush must be separated at the curb for collection. Residents must request bagged yard waste collection and brush collection by calling 3-1-1. Leaves and brush may also be taken to the Wood Recycling Center located at 3925 N. Hawthorne Street where wood chips and leaf compost are also available free of charge to City of Chattanooga residents. Leaf collection is a residential service only. It is illegal for landscapers or contractors to dispose of yard waste, including brush and leaves, by placing materials at the curb for City collection.”
They also have some handy guidelines for you to follow:
- Separate loose leaves, bagged leaves, brush and bulky items. These materials are collected, processed, and disposed of differently.
- Move loose leaves, bagged leaves, and brush as close to the curb edge of pavement as possible, but avoid placing the materials in the street or co-mingling materials.
- Avoid raking leaves into ditches. Doing so can cause flooding problems and have a negative impact on water quality.
- Avoid raking leaves into the street. Doing so can cause drainage problems and lead to hazardous driving conditions when leaves become wet.
This is certainly a very nice service but it might not be the most convenient one. First of all, there is all that business with “co-mingling” materials. Do you really want to sort your piles of raked garbage? And what happens if you spend hours raking those piles but the crews don’t show up until the next day. Won’t those leaves blow back into your yard? And just try keeping kids from diving into those piles!
The better course of action for leaf recycling or any proper recycling of bulky items would be to give Junk King Chattanooga a call. This is the Chattanooga based business that has made recycling junk their number one priority. It doesn’t matter what you’re throwing away; if Junk King thinks it can be recycled they’ll make their best effort to insure that item gets to the right recycling center. There could be several facilities around Chattanooga which take in different types of materials. You won’t have to worry about finding out which piece of junk goes to what recycling center; the Junk King crew will do all the work. You also won’t have to get your hands dirty because that same Junk King crew will do all the heavy lifting. When it comes to recycling in Chattanooga, Junk King is your best bet!
Let’s talk e-waste factoids. The Environmental Protection Agency put out a report in 2007 (the last time they did this) entitled “Management of Select Electronic Products in the United States.” According to the findings, there were 2.25 million tons of “televisions, cell phones and computer products” that were tossed on the scrap heap that year. Of that amount only 18% were actually recycled leaving a whopping 82% dumped into landfills. A vast majority of those e-waste items could end up leaking cadmium, lead and nickel into the top soil and water supply if they are left to rot in a landfill. That’s not a good thing.
Show of hands: Who has a home gym? Bigger question: Who uses their home gym on a regular basis? The truth is that many folks who have invested in home gym equipment do so for the right reasons but ultimately they are done in by that “convenience.” Too often the home treadmill or exercise equipment tucked into the basement or garage becomes a clothes rack simply because of boredom. If you’re not motivated to use that equipment you won’t use it no matter how close it is. That’s why if you’re serious about getting into shape you should consider (or reconsider!) joining a gym.
What is 100 years old and happy to still be in business? That would be the Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors. They recently gathered or a celebration marking their hundred anniversary and there was much cause to pop champagne corks. Although the National Association of realtors showed a slight dip in home sales during June, here in Chattanooga 11% more homes were sold last month than they did in April and 22.8% more residential units then they did a year ago.
The idea of downsizing is gaining in popularity all across the country, including in Chattanooga, for a variety of reasons. Top among them is the idea that moving into a smaller home or apartment is more affordable. But there is also the quality of life issue to consider. As we get older, taking care of a large home becomes a bit more burdensome. This is especially true if all the kids have moved on and you’re left alone in a big empty house. In that case, downsizing makes perfect sense.
Paul Smith, the manager of the Chattanooga Market, recently told the Times Free Press in an interview that Chattanooga has always been a town with a strong entrepreneurial spirit. Mr. Smith went on to say that “in 2008 when the economy went down the Chattanooga market really thrive because you had all these talented people who really needed a way to make extra income.” Part of that extra income was generated by the many crafters who turned trash into treasure.
Yes, it’s true: you can grow bananas in Chattanooga! A recent contributor to the Chattanooga Times Free Press website offered up her tips for growing ornamental banana trees in a Chattanooga garden. Among the benefits of this type of leafy plant is that you don’t need fertilizer; just water and sunlight. These trees also grows extremely fast. In fact one banana tree plant that starts out 15 inches high could grow as full as 15 feet high with a little TLC. These types of banana trees are also resistant to pests which mean you don’t have to worry about spraying them with pesticides. When new leaves form the old ones will die sometimes even overnight. It’s best to remove the old leaves to make way for the new sprouts. When the winter comes you don’t have to dig up the plant. You could cut the tree down to its base and spread mulch around the exposed trunk. By the time spring rolls around you’ll have a new batch of flourishing banana tree leaves.
Spring cleaning isn’t just a time for homeowners to get their house in order. Over at the Chattanooga national military Park there are several large monuments that are getting their own thorough cleaning thanks to the efforts of the Historic Preservation Training Center which sent a team down from Frederick Maryland to handle this task. The HPTC doesn’t just clean and restore these monuments but also uses the occasion as a teaching moment by involving local schools and community’s in several history packed seminars.
When you hear a tornado warning there is no telling what kind of destruction that storm might bring. It could be that the tornado loses its steam before it does any real damage. That’s what everybody hopes and prays for. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still take precautions once the alert goes out. A recent storm that shot through the Short Tail Springs area left at least 20 homes ripped off their foundations. Several other homes had their roofs torn are completely off. Down on Highway 58 the Island Cove Marina was hit especially hard with several houseboats tossed about like soda cans and dozens of other boats were shoved underwater. This same tornado also snapped trees in half and brought down power lines knocking out electricity for several hours.