With the holiday season upon us, SWACO reminds residents to "crush" or flatten the cardboard boxes they recycle at the 225 SWACO recycling drop—off centers in Franklin County. Residents are already recycling in record numbers for 2009 and by flattening the boxes they will provide additional room in the recycling bins for the extra loads of bottles, cans, paper, and cardboard that come with the holiday season.

"Through the end of October, our recycling efforts were 18% ahead of the same time in 2008," says SWACO Director of Operations Rick Dodge. "We also saw record loads during the holiday season months of November 2008, December 2008, and January 2009. Just like last year, we will add additional crews and more frequent pickups at our recycling locations. However while SWACO drivers will work hard to keep up with this year's increased loads, residents can lend us a hand and make space for their neighbors recyclables by crushing cardboard boxes."

Dodge has additional ways to trim your holiday waste. "Look for products with reduced packaging when you shop. Consider a product's durability before you buy as well. You can create less waste in the long run with longer lasting gifts. When wrapping those gifts, do they need a box, or will some wrapping paper and a bow handle the job?" Buying items made of recycled content is another way to go green this holiday season. Those products help conserve natural resources. When shopping, take along reusable shopping bags to cut down on waste.

SWACO's drop off recycling centers will also accept wrapping paper for recycling. However the wrappings must not be made of plastic or foil and all bows, ribbon and cellophane tape must be removed from the paper.

Holiday greeting cards (no foil) and envelopes can be recycled. When purchasing cards look for ones printed on recycled paper stock. Holiday catalog and advertising slicks should also be placed in the recycling bins. You should however, shred your name and address from the outside page before throwing away those materials. Close to 40% or about 375,000 tons of what is sent to SWACO's Franklin County Landfill is cardboard or paper and most that can be recycled. It is estimated that for every one ton of paper recycled, 17 trees are saved.

Many Central Ohioans will purchase electronics as gifts during the holiday season. Remember your old TV's, computers and other products can be recycled. SWACO's website, www.swaco.org provides a list of local e-waste businesses that will help make sure those items have a second life through recycling. As a matter of fact, SWACO's website features lots of information on recycling and waste reduction for the holiday season and throughout the year.

If you're are shipping gifts, or receive gifts shipped to you, a reminder that polystyrene peanuts (Styrofoam) do not belong in the recycling bins. However, many shipping and packing stores will accept those peanuts for reuse. You can also reuse those packing materials yourself as you ship gifts. As a green alternative, newspapers makes great packing material and they can be recycled (and it's a great way for those receiving gifts to catch up hometown news).

When the holidays are over, and it is time to take down the tree, residents should check with the Public Service department of their respective community for the proper disposal. Holiday trees are considered yard waste and yard waste is banned from SWACO's Franklin County Landfill.

SWACO reminds Central Ohioans to go green this holiday season and the year around. Recycle, Reuse and Recycle.