Greenwich Recycling Advisory Board (GRAB), in partnership with the Town of Greenwich and Waste Free Greenwich, announces the launch of the Greenwich Waste Wizard, a new online tool to reduce waste and empower residents to dispose of hundreds of items in an environmentally responsible and safe way. “Waste Wizard is a game-changing tool to cut our waste stream, encourage proper disposal and, in turn, save money. This search engine guides users how to recycle responsibly to curb contamination and wishcycling, and it instructs how and where hazardous materials, like electronics, paint and medications, can be disposed of correctly. The Waste Wizard also lists locations for donations of unwanted items in good condition, like furniture and clothing, to get them out of our waste stream and into the hands of residents to reuse,” explained Julie DesChamps, founder of Waste Free Greenwich.
The Greenwich Waste Wizard is a comprehensive tool, bringing together information in a single, easily accessible platform. Users simply enter the name of the item for disposal in the search box, and the Waste Wizard responds with the best options of how and where to recycle, reuse or dispose of it. ReCollect, the technology company that created Waste Wizard, works with over 360 municipalities globally; this version of Waste Wizard is specifically tailored for the Greenwich community. It offers a number of features for ease and accessibility, including local drop-off locations for recycling and donation, special instructions for disposal of items and even events in Greenwich, like Paper Shredding Day, in multiple languages – English, Spanish and Japanese. GRAB can edit the database at any time based on suggestions by the public or changes in state or local guidelines. ReCollect also provides statistics and analytics to help understand what materials are searched most often and tackle any challenges. Greenwich Waste Wizard can be accessed on the websites of the Greenwich Department of Public Works, Waste Free Greenwich and Greenwich Green & Clean, and a QR code makes the tool even easier to use.
Funding for the Greenwich Waste Wizard was made possible through GRAB’s textile recycling program. Last year, GRAB partnered with Fairco-Greentree Recycling, a Fairfield-based, for-profit company that provides eco-friendly textile collection services to reallocate unwanted textiles. “Incredibly, in just a year, over 35 tons – that’s almost 6,000 lbs a month – of textiles have been donated by residents and diverted from the waste stream,” reported GRAB chair Sally Davies. A portion of the proceeds is donated to GRAB each month towards education and community outreach, and the Greenwich Waste Wizard is the first project to be funded.
Textile donation bins are available for the residential collection of clothing, shoes, accessories, towels and bedding in any condition at convenient locations around town, including the Eastern Greenwich Civic Center parking lot, Cos Cob Park parking lot, Arch Street Teen Center, Holly Hill Resource Recovery Facility and The Nathaniel Witherell. More information about the textile recycling program is available at http://www.wastefreegreenwich.org/reuse-1.
