CRHS PTSA Environmental Committee

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that Americans use nearly 3-billion dry-cell batteries each year to power everything from remote controls to cameras and wireless gadgets. On average, each person in the United States discards eight dry-cell batteries per year. In 1996, "The Mercury Containing and Rechargeable Battery Management Act" was passed limiting the amount of mercury in dry-cell batteries sold in the US. Single-use alkaline batteries contain fewer toxic chemicals than rechargeable batteries, but there are many more of them in the waste stream. According to the EPA, batteries "account for a disproportionate amount of the toxic heavy metals contained in municipal solid waste," even though they make up less than 1 percent of that waste.

Until a few weeks ago, there was not a program set-up to accept alkaline batteries for recycling in our area. This year CRHS will recycle over 100 lbs. of rechargeable batteries that have been accumulated over the years. The cost is about $2/lb.

The PTSA hopes to replace some of the hundreds of alkaline batteries used in calculators through out the school with rechargeable batteries. Rechargeable batteries can be re-used 100s of times and accepted at no charge for recycling by many local businesses. We hope to continue recycling alkaline batteries at CRHS with the help of local businesses that have just recently started accepting household batteries as well at no cost. Our goal is to reduce the number of alkaline batteries that end up in the trash.

Why Recycle?

Recycling is important to our community. When we recycle we reduce the amount of trash going into our land fills, we save energy, create jobs and reduce pollution. It's the right thing to do! If you want to learn more about recycling or how you can help keep our environment clean check out the earth friendly web sites.

Recycling Facts to Reflect on:

Aluminum can recycling saves 95% of the energy needed to make aluminum from bauxite ore. Energy savings in one year is enough to light a city the size of Pittsburgh for six years!
The energy savings from every recycled aluminum can will operate a television set for three hours.
When an aluminum can is recycled, it only takes 60 days to complete the process and put it back on the store shelf.
Each year we throw away enough aluminum to rebuild the U.S. Air Fleet.
Each ton of paper recycled saves 17 trees, 7,000 gallons of water, and enough energy to heat the average home for six months.
Paper makes up more than one third of all solid waste and 50% of all landfill space is taken up by paper.
Each year we throw away enough wood and paper to heat five million homes for 2000 years.
The amount of steel recycled each year saves enough energy to supply electrical power needs of Los Angeles for more than 8 years.
Every pound of steel recycled is 5450 BTU's of energy -- enough energy to burn a 60 watt light bulb for more than 26 hours.

Every ton of steel recycled saves 2,500 pounds of iron ore, 1,000 pounds of coal, and 40 pounds of limestone.

-Author/ Compiler unknown

So, you want to start recycling?

Here are some tips that could help make recycling easy in your home.

Have a separate bin for drink recyclable containers in or close to your kitchen and one for paper out of the way like in your pantry or laundry room. This will make it easy to transfer items to outdoor recycling bins at a later time.
Start with a few items that are easy to recycle, such as those accepted by the curbside recycling program. The companies that provide curb side recycling pick-up in Cinco Ranch and what they collect changes every so often so it is a good idea to contact them to know what they accept. These are some things that can be placed in your curbside recycling bin:
1. Plastics #1, #2, #3, #4, #5. Examples: drinkable yogurt, shampoo bottles, milk jugs, water bottles, apple sauce containers, orange juice containers, vitamin containers, etc. No Styrofoam containers accepted. If you would like to know what these numbers mean go to: Link: http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/latest/recycling-symbols-plastics-460321.
2. Paper products such as newspaper, office paper, catalogs, magazines, phone books, cereal boxes, etc. No corrugated cardboard accepted.
3. Aluminum pans and cans.
4. Tin cans.
5. a few glass bottles.
Rinse cans and bottles before placing in your recycling bin. Sorting is done mostly by hand, and rinsing reduces risk to workers.
Remove all plastic lids. Lids are made from a different type of plastic. The majority of lids are not labeled which makes recycling them difficult.

Where to go to dispose of your...

Before you recycle, consider reusing, donating or reselling whenever possible.

Printer Cartridges: CRHS has a drop-off box by the greeters desk. You can also refill them at Office Depot, Cartridge World or Office Max. These places also recycle them and often offer something in return.
Plastic bags: HEB, Target, Wal-Mart have bins in their stores where you can leave plastic bags, even the ones you get from your dry cleaners.
Styrofoam Peanuts and other packing material: Many UPS stores in our area will gladly reuse these. Postal Web Plus on 2910 Commercial Dr. near Target also offers recyclable bubble rap.
Rechargeable batteries:

Our cell phones, cordless power tools, laptop computers, digital cameras, two-way radios, camcorders, remote control and many other electronic devices use rechargeable batteries. Rechargeable batteries are practical and reduce waste to the environment as they can be charged hundreds of times. None the less, if they are not recycled, they will end up in land fills polluting them with heavy metals that may later leach into the soil and ground water. Today, many of the rivers in America are too polluted to allow for fish consumption making it more difficult to enjoy an American pastime.
Please do not dump rechargeable batteries in the trash. They contain heavy metals which are highly toxic. You may drop off batteries Nickel Cadmium (Ni-Cd), Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-MH), and Lithium Ion (Li-ion) at The Home Depot, Best Buy and Radio Shack. or go to Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation to find the closest drop off to you. http://www.rbrc.org/consumer/index.html .

Button Cell Batteries: The button cell batteries sold most are the ones used for hearing aids. Although they contain very small amounts of Mercury they contribute to 70% of the mercury used in button cells. In order to recover one pound of Mercury, around 57,000 batteries would need to be recycled. Because there is no economic benefit to recycling these while a risk exists of fire or mercury contamination from the collection process, companies have not begun to recycle them. We can still contribute to a mercury reduction by avoiding unessential products requiring these batteries.
Corrugated Cardboard and Paper Products: The Abitibi recycling bins located on Katy ISD campuses now have a sticker saying "No cardboard". The reason that I heard was because so many people placed boxes without first breaking them down. These take up a lot of space that could be used for paper with better quality fibers and make it less cost effective to pick-up. Did you know that the school gets paid for paper products that are placed in the recycling bin outside the school? You can help the school by placing computer paper, colored paper, newspaper, magazines, junk mail, and other paper products in the bin for recycling. If you are going to place cardboard in an Abitibi bin, please brake the box down.
Household batteries: Used household batteries can now be recycled at Radio Shack at no cost! This includes button cell batteries, AA, AAA, C, D, N and 9V.
Non-working computers, monitors, etc.: Bits & Bites Computers located on Mason Rd. and I-10 accepts these for recycling.
Electronic equipment: This site gives you all the information you need including how to donate your equipment or find a recycler.
Working Outdated computers: Are you purchasing a new computer? The "Share the Technology" web site can put you in touch with an organization that could benefit from your old computer.
Plastic Gardening Containers: Local nurseries accept these.
Glass: Vista Fibers on 1200 Brittmoore phone: 713/461-9933 or the Fort Bend County Recycling Center.
Fluorescent light bulbs: These bulbs contain a small amount of mercury. Home Depot has recently set up a recycling station near their entrance to recycle these.
Other items: The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has a website that might help click here
- Many building materials can be donated to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore located at 13572 C State Hwy 249 Houston, TX 77086. Phone:(832) 327-1120. They accept ceiling fans, sinks and possibly paint depending on its condition.
- Check-out Freecycle Katy-Brookshire at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KatyBrookshireTXFreecycle/.

Green Arrow Recycling in Katy accepts plastics, cardboard, aluminum cans and electronics. You can get more information through their website at http://greenarrowrecycling.com/.

Fort Bend County Recycling Center
1200 Blume Road, Take 59S towards Rosenberg, go past Highway 36, exit at Frontage Road, get in right hand lane, turn right on Bamore Rd (next to Coastal Butane), go to stop sign, turn left on Klauke Rd., go 3/10 miles, turn right at first street Blume Road, continue on Blume Rd., driveway is on the left past Animal Control. Phone 281-633-7500 for switchboard, 281-633-7527 for recorded message.

Materials accepted by the Fort Bend County Recycling Center:

B.O.P.A.(Batteries, Oil, Paint, & Antifreeze)
Open Tues., Thurs., Fri from 8 am to 4 pm. Accepts all batteries, motor oil, latex paint, anti freeze, transmission oil, power steering fluid and cooking oil. FEE for latex paint of $5.00 for every 5-gallon volume equivalent
Household Hazardous Waste
Open Monday 9am to 6 pm, also open 1st Saturday of each month from 9am –2pm accepts flammables, gasoline, paint thinner, kerosene, solvents, oil based paints, caustics, acids and bases, pool chemicals, cleaners, reactives, fertilizers, oxidizers, Clorox, toxics poisons, pesticides, fungicides. FEE of $5.00 for every 5-gallon volume equivalent.
NOW AVAILABLE – Electronics recycling
$5.00 for computer set (monitor, keyboard, cpu), $5.00 printers, $5.00 for all other electronic items.
Other Recyclable Materials Accepted
Open Mon., Tues, Fri. 8:30-4:30, Thurs. 8am -3 pm, Sat. 8 am-4 pm, Accepts #1, #2 plastics, all paper, phonebooks, clear and brown glass, tin cans, aluminum, bi-metals, tires. FEE for tires $1.00 for passenger tires, $5.00 for 18 wheelers- no rims.

The City of Houston's Hazardous Waste web site has information on the disposal of paint, fluorescent lights, and more. Here is their link: http://www.ci.houston.tx.us/swd/hhw.htm

last updated 04/24/2010 CRHS PTSA HOME