COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- The City of Columbus offers environmentally friendly options for holiday trash and leftovers.
Trash can pile up after the holidays between the cardboard boxes, wrapping paper, and Christmas trees and people don’t want to leave it all out on the curb.
That’s why Columbus has an environmentally friendly solution for disposing of trash and recyclables. At the Waste and Reuse Convenience Centers, you can get rid of everything in one place.
“Food scraps and leftovers that you can’t eat anymore, Christmas trees, Christmas tree lights, electronics, maybe that sweater that your aunt knitted you that doesn’t fit so well? We’ll take all of those items and find new homes that aren’t the landfill,” said Aryeh Alex, the Sustainability Manager with the city’s Department of Public Service.
The convenience centers are open year-round but Alex said business picks up right after the holidays. These centers allow residents to drop off different items at different bins. They have one for food scraps that go to a composting facility, another for recycling, one for bulk items to be crushed and disposed of, and one for yard waste, like Christmas trees. The goal is to be as environmentally friendly as possible.
“When you bring it here we’re able to divert that from the landfill and we’re able to say that cardboard box, instead of going to the landfill where it’ll sit there for hundreds of years, we can get that recycled, and turned into new cardboard boxes in just a few weeks,” said Alex.
There are two convenience center locations, one in West Columbus on Georgesville Road and another on the South Side off of Alum Creek Drive.
Many people came through the South Side location the day after Christmas including David Baas, who owns a company called Green Mountain Products that recycles used cooking oil. Instead of going down the drain or in the trash, Baas said the oil is turned into fuel.
“We take the impurities out of it, the water and the batter and the meat and whatever else, and then we take the finished oil, and most of that goes into biodiesel today,” said Baas.
The day after Christmas Baas said he was at the center to dispose of some food scraps after big holiday meals. Baas says visiting the center is something he has been doing for a while now.
“I want to help with the landfills and hopefully do my part,” said Baas.
Another resident, Jai Ford, said she just discovered the convenience center last week and it is already becoming part of her weekly routine, especially as she completes a new year refresh.
“Just cleaning out the garage, cleaning out the house, trying to have a new year 2025 wishing for good things to come into my house and my life,” said Ford. “I just wish I knew about it this summer. I could have been slowly doing it.”
So whether people have already taken their Christmas tree down or want to keep the decorations up for a few more weeks, you have a one-stop shop for environmentally friendly disposal.
Both convenience center locations are open year-round Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. through 6 p.m. each day. For more information on what you can and cannot dispose of at the convenience centers, check out https://www.columbus.gov/Services/Trash-Recycling-Bulk-Collection?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery.
