At a glance
The Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio (SWACO) offers extensive information at recycleright.org about what to do with the stuff you are trying to get rid of. The site’s recycle and reuse search tool offers suggestions on a variety of items, and about organizations or sites that accept them.
SWACO also operates a permanent Household Hazardous Waste Drop-off site at 645 E. 8th Ave.. The site is open from noon to 6 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursdays. To find out what materials are accepted visit the SWACO recycle website or call 614-294-1300. SWACO also sponsors occasional household hazardous waste drop-off events around Franklin County. The next two scheduled will be from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 7 at the Service Complex, 350 Parkmeadow Road, Westerville; and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 28 at Kingston Center, 3226 Kingston Ave., Grove City. Columbus residents can schedule bulk item refuse pickup at 614-645-3111 or schedule online at 311.columbus.gov.
According to SWACO, 70 percent of the material disposed of in the county landfill could be reused, recycled or composted.
“I have a unique outlook on the business,” Green said. “I was homeless, and in my first apartment I was sleeping on a mattress on the floor. I did scrap metal, picking cans out of dumpsters to get money.
“You don’t get a lot of money for scrap metal, but it beats putting it in the landfill. Eventually I got a pickup truck, put an ad on Craigslist. Now I have a booming business.”
Green said that in the 10 years she has been in business, she has become an expert in reusing and recycling the things she cleans out of people’s homes. She gives reusable items to several charities who help people who are struggling, as she once did.
“I do like repurposing usable items. I’ve done whole houses that, by the time I get done taking paper and other recyclables to drop-off, donating reusable items, donating scrap metal, I might only have a trailerload of trash coming out of a house that someone has lived in for 40 years.”
sstephens@dispatch.com @Stevestephens