Author: Winneshiek Waste

In case you didn’t know, today is World Water Day! We are very fortunate to have access to clean water in our area, so let’s conserve this precious resource whenever possible. One way to use less water at home is by harvesting rain water with a rain barrel and using that rain water on your lawn or garden. This is also a fantastic way to repurpose a plastic barrel! If you are interesting in building your own rain barrel, Winneshiek County Conservation and Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) are holding a workshop on April 13th at 5:30 PM in the Lake Meyer Campground Shop. Registration is required and there is a fee for the materials. To find out more about this event, visit WCC’s website by clicking on the link below!

Did you know that tomorrow is Global Recycling Day? Global Recycling Day was created in 2018 to raise awareness about the value of our natural resources and how we can protect them by recycling more. It’s essential that people think about waste as resources when we look at the materials around us. Have a great weekend, and please remember to recycle those valuable resources!

Sorting your materials at the recycling center is extremely important. If products are placed in the wrong bins, it takes a lot more time for employees to dig through them and put them in the appropriate containers. If the majority of the load is composed of unrecyclable materials, the entire load might have to be thrown away. These items were recently found in the paper bin. Some of these materials have the potential to get caught in machines and damage them. Throwing all these various waste materials into a paper recycling bin is unacceptable. Thank you to everyone who takes the time to sort their materials properly. We greatly appreciate your efforts! Keep up the good work!

How to dispose of them properly:

1. Place the sharps/used needles in puncture resistant containers. Laundry detergent, fabric softener, coffee can, or red sharps containers work great. Red sharps containers can be purchased at your pharmacy.

2. Once the container is full, ensure that the lid is TAPED SHUT.

3. Place the container in the red mailbox by the Smith Building door at This service is FREE!

Never put sharps in your trash or recycling bins and don’t flush them down the toilet! Disposing of these items improperly leads to a hazardous environment for employees and creates more work.

DON’T throw corrugated cardboard in the trash. Recycle it! Better yet, if you receive a gift that comes in a cardboard box this holiday season, reuse the box for another gift 🙂