E-cycling focus of Earth Day Festival On Chincoteague

ON CHINCOTEAGUE ISLAND

4th ANNUAL MOTHER EARTH DAY FESTIVAL

Saturday  May 7,  20ll   10:00 AM until  4:00 PM

At the Robert Reed Downtown Waterfront Park

 The Festival is sponsored by the Chincoteague Cultural Alliance to increase awareness about the ways we can help protect the area we live in and the planet.

At last year's festival, over 7,600 pounds of household hazardous waste materials were collected, breaking all records on the Eastern Shore.

This year, the focus is on Electronics recycling. Any type of electronics may be recycled -- computers, keyboards, monitors, printers, scanners, TVs, gaming systems, MP3 players, iPods, cell phones, digital clocks, batteries, stereos, telephones, answering machines, etc. Donation of most items is free. The only charge will be $1 for old style computer monitors and $5 for televisions. Electronics discarded in our landfills release toxins and pollute our environment. While you are doing your spring cleaning this year, put aside any electronics you no longer need and bring them to the Mother Earth Day Festival for recycling.

Also Tidewater Recycling, which is the company that picks up on Chincoteague, will be on hand with educational information and displays to answer all your questions. There will be a 'Pledge Mural' that you and the kids can paint on and will be displayed around town.

In addition to the recycling events, live music featuring Men with Issues, Hemlock Hollow and surprise entertainers will play throughout the day. Over 20 artist/vendors will be participating, including a plant sale. This year's silent auction to raise funds to support future free CCA events features chairs designed by famous local artists. The entries are on display at Sundial Books on Main St.

For more information, please contact Megan at Egret Moon Artworks 757-336-5775 or e-mail egretmoon@yahoo.com.

Source; shoredailynews.com

7th Annual Household Hazardous Waste Collection A Huge Success

On Saturday, May 8 nearly 100 Eastern Shore citizens lined up at the Mother Earth Day Festival on Chincoteague to drop off nearly 3.5 tons (7,326 pounds to be exact) of household hazardous material for proper disposal by Care Environmental Corporation, of Landing, New Jersey. Saturday's successful effort brought in the most hazardous waste in the history of the event.

A variety of materials were brought in for proper disposal including old paint, stale fuels, pesticides, flammable aerosols, oxidizers, batteries, and asbestos shingles. In addition, nearly 200 pounds of reusable paint was collected and donated to the Eastern Shore Food Bank.

The Eastern Shores landfills are not engineered to handle these materials and hazardous wastes that illegally enter the landfill could potentially threaten the health of Eastern Shore residents. Hazardous wastes also tend to accumulate around everyones homes over time creating unnecessary health and safety risks at home. Every quantity of hazardous waste brought in through the collection program ensures that that waste will not pollute our water resources on the Eastern Shore and endanger the quality of our water and our health.

For tips on safer use, storage, and disposal of all types of household hazardous waste please contact Curt Smith with the Accomack-Northampton Planning District Commission and visit the A-NPDC on the web at www.a-npdc.org and on Facebook. Next years collection is currently scheduled to be held in Northampton County.

The event was sponsored by Accomac and Northampton Counties, the Eastern Shore of Virginia Ground Water Committee, the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program, the A-NPDC, the Chincoteague Cultural Alliance, the Chincoteague Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanis Club of Chincoteague, the Chincoteague Natural History Association, Spangler Construction, and the Eastern Shore Soil & Water Conservation District.

www.shoredailynews.com

Household Hazardous Waste Collection

The Eastern Shore of Virginia Ground Water Committee is holding the 7th Annual Eastern Shore of Virginia Household Hazardous Waste Collection in conjunction with the 3rd Annual Mother Earth Day Festival Saturday, May 8, 2010 from 10:00 AM 2:00 PM at the Robert Reed Waterfront Park in Chincoteague at the parking lot on Main Street next to the old bridge.

Eastern Shore residents will have the opportunity to properly dispose of household hazardous waste that is not permitted in our local landfills.

Items to be collected include leftover garden chemicals, poisons, repellants, degreasers, fuels (gasoline and kerosene), fungicides, wood preservatives, paint products, wood stain, paint thinner, paint remover, driveway sealers, epoxy, rodent poison, asbestos, and other hazardous waste.
No commercial or industrial waste, car batteries, tires, motor oil, ammunition, flares, explosives, medical waste, biological waste, radioactive waste, medicines, PCBs, smoke detectors, freon, propane tanks, or empty containers of any kind will be accepted.

Reusable paint will be collected and donated to the Eastern Shore Food Bank.

Participants can dispose of up to 30 pounds of hazardous waste for free. Additional hazardous waste will cost $1.00 per pound. Disposal of the first 30 pounds for free will be available only as funds allow, so arrive early to ensure your spot!

If interested contact Curt Smith with the Accomack-Northampton Planning District Commission at 757-787-2936 ext. 114.