While eating lunch with her children, Tracy Romzek was shocked to see how much of the meal was thrown out. Not just the food, but the other things that could be recycled, such as milk cartons. “I had lunch with the kids and saw all the cartons being tossed out,” said Romzek, 38, a Town of Menasha mother of two. Romzek, who has a master’s degree in environmental engineering, decided to research the best way to recycle the materials. “I lived out in Washington state previously to moving here three years ago,” she said. “We always recycled cartons.” She talked to the school principal and school district officials. “I just saw something that could be done and chose to take action,” she said. Romzek admitted she didn’t know what it would take to get a milk carton recycling program started. But once she took action at Clayton, it opened the door to other recycling possibilities and, ultimately, other schools in the district. “It started as a carton thing but what it really turned out to be was cafeteria recycling,” she said, noting the program is currently implemented in all but one of Neenah’s elementary schools and at Horace Mann Middle School. She hopes to bring the program to Jefferson Elementary and Fox River Academy in Appleton. She signed up for recycling brigades with TerraCycle, a free waste collection program for hard-to-recycle materials. Clayton now collects dairy containers like yogurt tubs, drink pouches, Scotch tape dispensers, paper products, Solo cups, granola bar wrappers, cheese packaging and Lunchables containers, among other items. “That is waste being upcycled,” she said. “These are things that are not traditionally recycled.” Romzek was also awarded an environmental education grant from SCA Tissue, which allowed her to purchase different containers and things needed for the recycling programs. She hopes to encourage the schools to get away bagging the recyclables. The milks cartons, she noted, cannot be tied up in a plastic bag or they will rot. She also sought a local facility, Fox River Fiber in DePere, to take away the materials. “It’s pretty cool we have a local company that wants them,” she said. She sees recycling as a cost-saving measure for the district. “A third of the lunchroom waste is going into recycle rather than the garbage,” she said. “Recycling is cheaper to pick up than the garbage.” Andrew Thorson, director of facilities and an engineer in the district, said he appreciates all Romzek has done. “She’s very dedicated and she has a lot of energy to handle these things,” he said. “It’s very helpful to us that she can spend her time on that. We have the need but not necessarily the ability to do as much as she does.” Romzek also feels the recycling programs educate the kids. “A lot of these kids, once I showed them what can be recycled, they love it and they really try and they want to do the right thing,” she said, noting that by getting them “involved early on, they will care later.”

Both Chemung and Tioga counties recycle much material, including plastic grocery bags in Tioga. There are some things, however, neither county takes, such as plastic bowls or tubs for yogurt, margarine, Cool Whip, deli foods and the like. I always cringe when I throw those items away. If you'd like to reduce the quantity of waste going into the landfill and at the same time do something for the planet by donating items that will be refashioned into something else, it's now easy in Spencer-Van Etten. Following is a list of many items that you can recycle locally, as long as they are clean and free of food bits: juice pouches, empty chip bags (all sizes), candy bar wrappers from Mars/Wrigley or Cadbury, Lunchables lunch kits (all parts), plastic wrappers from Scott brand paper products, all Kraft cheese bags and cream cheese tubs, Scotch tape rolls and dispensers, shampoo and conditioner bottles, energy and granola bar wrappers, cookie bags and wrappers with the plastic trays, Colgate toothpaste tubes, toothbrushes and cardboard packaging, plastic butter tubs, plastic Solo cups, Elmer's glue sticks and bottles, yogurt cups, cell phones, MP3 players, ink jet printer cartridges, laptop computers, computer keyboards, computer mice and digital cameras.

Both Chemung and Tioga counties recycle much material, including plastic grocery bags in Tioga. There are some things, however, neither county takes, such as plastic bowls or tubs for yogurt, margarine, Cool Whip, deli foods and the like. I always cringe when I throw those items away. If you'd like to reduce the quantity of waste going into the landfill and at the same time do something for the planet by donating items that will be refashioned into something else, it's now easy in Spencer-Van Etten. Following is a list of many items that you can recycle locally, as long as they are clean and free of food bits: juice pouches, empty chip bags (all sizes), candy bar wrappers from Mars/Wrigley or Cadbury, Lunchables lunch kits (all parts), plastic wrappers from Scott brand paper products, all Kraft cheese bags and cream cheese tubs, Scotch tape rolls and dispensers, shampoo and conditioner bottles, energy and granola bar wrappers, cookie bags and wrappers with the plastic trays, Colgate toothpaste tubes, toothbrushes and cardboard packaging, plastic butter tubs, plastic Solo cups, Elmer's glue sticks and bottles, yogurt cups, cell phones, MP3 players, ink jet printer cartridges, laptop computers, computer keyboards, computer mice and digital cameras.

TerraCycle, Inc. is an international upcycling and recycling company that takes difficult to recycle packaging and turns it into affordable, eco-friendly products. Founded in 2001, TerraCycle is the world’s leader in the collection and reuse of non-recyclable post-consumer waste. TerraCycle works with over 30 major brands in the U.S. (and in a growing number of other countries) to collect used packaging and products (chip bags, candy wrappers, juice pouches, pens, toothbrushes, etc.) that would otherwise be destined for landfills.