YOUR TURN: Mulching, shredding, all things recycling in Gaston County

Hello Gaston, hoping that all have gotten trees cleared, power back on and your shelves restocked for the next natural disaster.

Having seen the latest in storm debris footage from Hurricane Milton, which spurred over 12 tornadoes in Florida, the first thing that comes to mind is just how important debris cleanup is to restoring life back to a state of “normal.”

It reminds me of that refrain from the Big Yellow Taxi song by Joni Mitchell: “Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you got ‘til it's gone?” It makes me think of so many things: the peace of mind we have when we aren’t dealing with a crisis, the luxuries we take for granted, and when the trash services are gone, we certainly realize very quickly how important those services and the people who keep them running are for keeping our local communities safe and sanitary.

So although my job for the county is to mainly promote and encourage recycling, part of the job is also reducing organic wastes from landfill trash, which includes educating people that yard waste is a separate waste and needs to be kept out of your regular household trash pickup.

As I completed our annual reporting to the state this year about the amounts and types of material that we diverted from regular landfill, the largest amount was from yard waste (15,003.7 TONS to be exact). When we experienced the two tornadoes in May rip through areas of Gaston County, it created enough extra debris that we had to call in our mulch grinder to help start moving the pile of limbs, trunks and stumps into chipped mulch.

Being able to take something that may take years to decompose on its own and create a useful product (mainly for erosion control) is a type of diversion and reuse that helps everyone. The yard waste that is coming to the landfill now is for the most part from Hurricane Helene. We are lucky to live in the South where the field can turn to forest in a matter of years, and those trees can be replenished if left alone in as little as 15-20 years for softwoods and 30-50 years for hardwoods. Those of us that have chosen older neighborhoods will know the costs associated for cleanup of 50-80 year old oaks, maples, hickories and poplars are not cheap. Especially if one of those mighty trees comes down on the car, house, shed or carport. You can apply online for FEMA assistance for your Hurricane Helene related cleanup costs now at gastongov.com.

Now our mountain neighbors are not only dealing with trees but also with mud. The ruined furniture and carpets have got to be pulled out, if there is even a structure left to salvage. All that wet and mucky bits have to go somewhere. The spoiled food has to go somewhere. The misplaced sand from Florida that was dragged with the surge of the ocean into coastal communities will need to be shoveled out and go somewhere.

We cannot get back to normal until we get cleaned up. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I can’t think clearly until my space I am working in is tidied up. It is much easier to function in spaces that are clear of clutter. So although you may not be shoveling out sand or mud, you may need to take some time over the next days or weeks to clear out the clutter so that in the next disaster you are not trying to do two jobs in one. The daily, weekly and monthly chores are easy to get away from us in the busy seasons of life.

We can all learn from these disasters about being prepared for the storm itself, but also we can make the clean up easier if we rid our spaces of things we do not need to keep. Even better, we can try not to bring in to our houses, things that we don’t plan on keeping so that maybe, there’s less to throw out overall.

In two weeks (Nov. 2), Keep Gastonia Beautiful will have their free Shred Event for Gastonia citizens at the Farmers Market. Now is the time to prepare to get rid of the paper clutter. Disregarding documents like titles or taxes, most other sensitive items can be shredded after seven years. The event is for household use only. It is three boxes per car of sensitive documents to be shredded. It is not to shred your junk mail, or magazines or old paperwork from school. You may go next door to the Farmers Market Recycling Center to recycle your mixed paper and cardboard when you are done.

If you are worried about someone knowing your name or address on the mail, cut it out or mark it with a black permanent marker. We will only dump out boxes and then return them to you. Bags break. Office paper is heavy. So consider the size of your box and if it’s too heavy for you to lift, it’s too heavy for our volunteers. If you have anything besides paper in your bags - like flash drives, cell phones or batteries, shoes, or other random items in your box - you will be turned away to sort your items before getting back in line. Please help Keep Gastonia Beautiful and their team of volunteers to have a seamless event by following the rules and preparing beforehand.

By taking time to clean our spaces before disaster strikes, we make getting back to normal a little easier. Separating organic debris from your household trash leaves more room in the landfill, as sticks, leaves, grass, and tree parts can be easily ground and reused as mulch. Keeping recyclable materials sorted and separated from landfill trash also leaves more space in the landfill for the items that have no other safe place for disposal.

To find out more about what can be recycled or where, about the ongoing mulch sales happening this Saturday and more to come, and events like Shred or Household Hazardous Waste check out gastongov.com/solidwaste.

Thanks and we can do this together, let’s help keep Gaston clean and put our wastes where they belong.

Becca Hurd is Gaston County's recycling coordinator.