FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Clean Green Springfield community-wide cleanup and beautification initiative is going strong with 1,100 individuals registered for volunteer opportunities and more than 350 bags of litter collected to date since the program launched in mid-March.
Additional volunteers are needed. Individuals, families, churches and service teams are encouraged to register for events and opportunities scheduled throughout April and May. Visit www.cleangreensgf.com to view the full schedule and get registered.
Volunteer events coming up this weekend:
Kansas Expressway Point of Pride Event – 9 a.m. – noon, Saturday, April 15
Kansas Expressway is a significant thoroughfare in our community, carrying thousands of vehicles per day in and out of Springfield. It also regularly accumulates trash and is consistently in need of a cleanup. Nearly 200 volunteers, including large teams from Drury University and Crossway Baptist Church, are currently registered to tackle litter along the Kansas Expressway corridor between Republic Road and Kearney Street. Additional volunteers are needed! Pre-registration is encouraged, but volunteers are also welcome to drop into any volunteer check in location.
Volunteers are encouraged to check in with a volunteer coordinator at one of three hubs located along Kansas Expressway. City staff members will be stationed at each hub to provide cleanup instructions, safety vests, trash bags, gloves, waiver forms and tshirts and other giveaway items. Volunteer check-in hubs will be at the following locations:
NORTH HUB: Paul Mueller Company (1600 W. Phelps Street) – Check-in station located at the northeast corner of the parking lot near Chestnut Expressway.
CENTRAL HUB: Jordan Valley Community Health Center (1720 W. Grand Street) – Check-in station located in the northwest corner of the parking lot.
SOUTH HUB: HyVee on Battlefield (1720 W. Battlefield Road) – Check-in station located in the northwest corner of the HyVee parking lot near Kansas Expressway.
In case of inclement weather, the event will be rescheduled to April 29. Volunteers are encouraged to watch their email inboxes or the City’s social media pages for notifications.
Sunset Median Beautification Event – 8 a.m. – noon, Saturday, April 15
More than 5,000 plants are going into the ground along with weeding, mulch spreading and general site cleanup. This project will take multiple days of dedicated volunteer work. Volunteers have signed up to help throughout the month of April and will continue until it’s done!
View a full list of volunteer events and get registered at www.cleangreensgf.com.
Announcing special disposal opportunities available in May
The City of Springfield is offering additional low-cost or no-cost disposal opportunities for a handful of hard-to-dispose of items. These items not only take up space in the landfill, but they pose a threat to the environment if not properly disposed of. These are special offers funded through Clean Green Springfield and are only valid while funding lasts. Watch CleanGreenSGF.com and the City’s social media sites for updates or notification of offers ending prior to heading out to a dropoff site.
TV Recycling – May 1-31
Computer Recycling Center, 528 N. Prince Lane
10 a.m.- 5 p.m., Monday – Saturday during the month of May
Throughout the month of May, the City has partnered with the Computer Recycling Center to provide no-cost television recycling of up to 200 TVs through Clean Green Springfield. TV’s accepted include CRT, LED, Plasma, Big Screen, Console and LCD TVs.
No voucher is required. Just mention “Clean Green Springfield.” Limit ONE no-cost TV recycling per residential household available on a first-come first-served basis.
Items will be collected at their facility at 528 N. Prince Lane during regular business hours, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday-Saturday. Items must be transported to the facility. No home pickup option is available. Staff members from Computer Recycling Center will be available to help unload items as they arrive at their location.
Mattress Recycling – May 1 – 31
Lone Pine & Franklin Avenue recycling centers, Noble Hill Sanitary Landfill
Americans dispose of an estimated 20 million mattresses and box springs every year, and the vast majority end up in landfills or incinerators. Bulky mattresses are hard to dispose of and often dumped. They are also problematic for landfills: they take up a lot of space because they don’t compact well and are hard on machinery. Mattresses contain nonbiodegradable synthetic foam and fibers, plus flame retardant chemicals. Recycling your bed can help reduce your carbon footprint and help our landfill last longer!
Clean Green Springfield will cover the cost of recycling up to 500 mattresses at the City’s three current mattress recycling sites:
Franklin Avenue Recycling Center (731 N. Franklin Ave.)
Hours: 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Tuesday - Saturday
Lone Pine Avenue Recycling Center (320 S. Lone Pine Ave.)}
Hours: 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Tuesday - Saturday
Springfield Noble Hill Sanitary Landfill (3545 W. Farm Road 34)
Hours: 7 a.m. – 4 p.m., Monday – Friday | 7 a.m. – 3 p.m., Saturday
No voucher is required. Just mention “Clean Green Springfield.”
Limit 4 pieces per residential household. Mattress and box springs accepted. Mattresses must be clean, dry and free of infestation.
About Mattress Recycling:
Collection and processing of the mattresses will be provided via a contract with BedHead Mattress Recycling. Mattresses will be transported to BedHead’s facility in Billings, then deconstructed. Components are processed, shipped and ultimately become raw materials utilized by a number of manufacturers in products such as construction materials, wood chip mulch and more.
The City of Springfield offers the opportunity to recycle old mattresses and box springs year-round at the Lone Pine Avenue and Franklin Avenue Recycling Centers and Springfield’s Noble Hill Sanitary Landfill for a fee of $15 per piece, regardless of size.
Learn more about the City’s recycling and solid waste facilities.
Tire Toss – 7 a.m. – 2 p.m., Saturday, May 6
404 N. Jefferson (former Meek’s property)
Recycling tires can help harmful chemicals stay out of the earth, water, and air. It can prevent tires from becoming disease-carrying-pest breeding grounds and can keep them from starting fires. When you are ready to get rid of your old tires, make sure they get recycled.
Springfield citizens have the opportunity to drop off up to 8 tires per residential household. Tires must be detached from rims. Tires must be transported to the event. No home pickup option is available.
The problem with tire waste:
Not only do tires take up unnecessary space in the landfill, but they also pose potential damage to the environment and human health if improperly disposed of. Tires contain harmful chemicals and heavy metals that can leach into the environment as the tires break down. The same chemicals can be released into the air when tires are burned, another common method of improper disposal. Tires also provide a breeding ground for pests such as mosquitos if left discarded out in the open.
For more details about each disposal offer, visit www.cleangreensgf.com.
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For more information, contact Cora Scott, Director of Public Information & Civic Engagement, at 417-380-3352 or [email protected] or Kristen Milam, Communications Coordinator, at 573-819-3713 or [email protected].