Shawnee County Solid Waste

Good Friday afternoon, good people of Shawnee County et al.,

Whew, what a week.

This week, we are not going to discuss the little storm that wasn’t supposed to become a storm. Apparently, it never read its own forecast, said, “Hold my drink,” and became a pretty decent sized storm that blew stuff from heck to breakfast.

By the way, now that you have two sixteen foot long, 27 inch branches lying at the curb, we still won’t pick them up until you cut them.

And speaking of the weather, it happens. The Solid Waste Social Media Team really isn’t that mad.

Because with weather, you have to predict it. And when you start predicting stuff, sometimes you make a good choice… and sometimes you make a bad choice.

Speaking of predictions and making choices, you do not need to be a Level 22 soothsayer to know the following prediction is true:

IF YOU PUT HOT FIREWORK RESIDUE IN YOUR HIGH-DENSITY POLYETHYLENE WHEELIE BIN, IT WILL MELT. 🥴

For realz.

I mean, seriously. At any point during that hypothesis making process, did the two little angels sitting on your shoulders mention that this might be a bad idea?

I would chalk it up to “It’s Topeka, My Dudes,” but heck, even one of our fresh-country-air-living customers decided to test our prediction.

Hypothesis → Theory → Law.

Ummm…heat melts plastic.

Das Law.

That being said, here is the annual:

MELTED WHEELIE BIN WALL OF SHAME

25xx SW Morningside Rd.
11xx SW Cambridge Ave.
41xx SW 28th Ter.
33xx SE Girard St. - compliments of the neighbors
43xx SW Stratford Rd.
39xx SE 30th Park
10 # # # SW 61st St.
53xx S. Topeka Blvd. - a fireworks stand. Seriously?

Do better.

Anywhoz, enough of that. Until next year…

It’s Friday,
It’s afternoon,
It’ gorgeous weather out there,
And the time clock is beckoning me with open arms.👐

So let’s get to your completely non-taxpayer-funded:

WEEKEND SAFETY BRIEFING!
The 3Ds:

👉Don’t drink and drive.

👉Don’t do stupid stuff.

👉Don’t even think about disclosing your newly discovered shortcut that one you lovingly call “Paradise” that eliminates the hassle of navigating surface streets filled with distracted Jeff County motorists, bicycles, and navigationally challenged semi-trucks because once you tell someone, they will suddenly “discover” your time-saving shortcut as well along with 1013 other local commuters and your Paradise commute will once again become unnecessarily frustrating. You called it Paradise. I don’t know why. You call someplace Paradise, kiss it goodbye. 🙃

Have a great weekend!
Be safe!
Be a decent human!
Make good choices!
Just take the detour.

PS: I see you. Keep going.

PPS: Today is National Fry Day, so go get your free portion of monounsaturated-fat-soaked starch sticks at participating restaurants.

PPPS: Tomorrow is Tire Take Back Day in Topeka! 9:00–11:00 a.m. City of Topeka Utility Yard (google it)

PPPPS: Fiesta next week! It’s going to be perfect weather!

PPPPPS: The Human Frogger game was reset due to the power loss caused by the storm that shouldn’t have been a storm. Your quarter will not be refunded.

PPPPPPS – Bad hair day weather is 100% better than the air-is-hurting-my-face weather.

PPPPPPPS: Love ya, Byeee.

10 fingers?
10 toes?
Wheelie bins still looking like wheelie bins?

Well, congratulations. You survived the fireworks portion of the holiday weekend.

Now, if you exercised poor judgment, or you happen to live next to humans who exercised poor judgment on your behalf, go ahead and do the walk of shame.

Drag that melted, warped, crispy wheelie bin to the curb and display it proudly for the whole neighborhood to see as they drive by and silently judge your choices..

Then call the office and speak with one of the Nice Office Ladies about getting a replacement cart.

And yes, we will definitely take the detour to get you one.
Friendly reminder:

Firework residue goes in the trash only, never recycling.

We are going to great lengths to keep our customers notifed.

And here we are, friends…

Wrapping up seven weeks of plastic recycling learning with the last installment talking about…

#7 plastic.

Didn’t see that one coming, did ya?🤔

are basically the “et al.” of the plastic world.

They include all the plastics that don’t fit nicely into #1 through #6. You know, the miscellaneous drawer of plastics. The “we don’t know where else to put this, so here it goes” category.

Stuff like:

Polycarbonate
Bioplastics, such as PLA
Nylon
Plexiglas
Fiberglass
And just about every other oddball plastic that doesn't fit in anywhere

You might see #7 plastic in things like:

CDs
Large reusable water bottles
Some sunglasses
Certain food containers
And, my personal favorite, the salsa jug that looks recyclable but sure in the heck ain’t.

So, is #7 plastic recyclable?

Maybe. Maybe not.

But around here, it is definitely not accepted in your blue-lidded recycling cart.

That means #7 plastic and unnumbered plastic should either go in the trash or be taken to a specific recycling option that accepts that item. Which is not us.

Because, once again, for the people in the back:

Just because something is plastic…

And just because it has that little triangle on the bottom…

Does not mean it gets to pass Go, collect $200, and take a scenic ride to the MRF.

That triangle only tells you what kind of plastic it is. It does not automatically mean it belongs in your curbside recycling cart.

So, to be perfectly, painfully, recycling-education-series-finale clear:

No #7 plastics.
No unnumbered plastics.
No mystery plastics.

Keep them out of your blue-lidded wheelie bin.

And with that, Plastics 101 class is dismissed. ✌