Category: recycling

Please don’t put plastic bags into your recycling bucket.

Autumn Family Fun at the Trunk or Treat/Scarecrow Contest

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Mayor Bert Steinmann and the Ewing Green Team invite you to demonstrate your recycling smarts and creative skills this fall to win ca$h!   Make a one-of-a-kind scarecrow and enter the Ewing Green Team’s 4th Annual Scarecrow Contest this October.

Event Details

The contest is open to all Ewing individuals, school groups, families, youth groups, service clubs and business groups. Winners will be judged on originality, artistry and the creative use of recycled materials. All scarecrows must be constructed of at least 80% recycled, reclaimed, and/or reused materials.  Materials like glue, nails, string, or other means of attaching items will count toward the allowable 20% new materials.

Scarecrows must be named to help describe/identify the creative theme and must also be 4-5 feet tall (without stake) and 2-4 feet wide.  Ewing Township will provide frames for the first 15 registrants who request one available at the Ewing Senior and Community Center (ESCC), 999 Lower Ferry Road.  Contest registrants should stop in at the main office to request a frame and ESCC staff will help you load the frame into your vehicle.

There will be Prizes!

Cash prizes of $100, $50 and $25 will be awarded to 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners.  Judging will be done by members of the Ewing Town Council, as well as Arts Commission members and local art educators.

Pre-Registration Required

Pre-Registration is required.   For registration and details check out the Green Team’s contest page.  You may also register using your Community Pass account (link available from the Community Affairs Department pages on this website).  You may also print out the registration form, fill it out and mail it to the Green Team.

Ewing Green Team
2 Jake Garzio Drive
Ewing, NJ 08628

The deadline for registration is the end of day, Monday, October 23, 2017.

Scarecrow Drop Off and Pick Up

Scarecrows must be delivered to ESCC by Friday, October 27th at 4:00 pm.    We request that Scarecrows made for the contest to remain on display until after Halloween, Wednesday, November 1st for the community to enjoy.  Any Scarecrows remaining after November 3rd will be dismantled and materials recycled. Call Green Team member Lisa Feldman with any questions: 609 620-0722.

Scarecrow Winners!

Join us on Saturday, October 28th (rain date Sunday, Oct 29th) at the ESCC beginning at 2 pm for pumpkin painting and crafts for the kids.  Contest winners will be announced at 4:00 pm following Trunk or Treat.   So, please join us for hot apple cider and refreshments as we gather together to see who can make recycling into art whiling have fun and celebrating the fall season.

Event Summary

Scarecrow Event: Saturday, Oct 28th (Rain date Sunday, Oct 29th)
Location: ESCC, 999 Lower Ferry Road
Time: 2 pm (pumpkin painting) 4 pm (Scarecrow Contest Winners announced)
Winners Announced: 4 pm
Pre-registration Required

Shred Day – Saturday, April 22nd

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Dispose of your sensitive documents safely and securely at Ewing’s first Shred Day of the year, Saturday, April 22nd from 9 – 1 at the municipal building.  Document shredding will be done on site.  This service is for Ewing residents only and proof of residency is required.

The Ewing Green Team will be on hand to assist.

Date: Saturday, April 22nd
Time: 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Location: Municipal Building

The next Shred Day will be Saturday, October 21st.

Spring Is In the Air – Make Reduce, Reuse and Recycle a Part of Your Spring Cleaning Plan

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With the advent of spring on Monday, March 20th, many of us begin our annual spring cleaning ritual.  The EGT recommends that as you go through the unwanted stuff in your home that you consider the 3Rs when you make your decisions regarding their disposal.  From clothes, to furniture, to old non-working or outdated electronics, to bottles of cleaners, pesticides, oil-based paints, driveway sealer, insect repellents, to reams of unwanted sensitive documents, these all may need to go.  Fortunately, there are some specialized programs that are run in Ewing and Mercer County in April to allow you to dispose of many items AND there are many organizations that will take your gently used, no longer needed items and give them a new home.

Reduce

Before you make the decision to buy new, we encourage you to reflect on whether you really need something new or whether cleaning or repair of the old item will do.  For example, what about that pair of shoes with worn down heels that you love?  Don’t throw them out. Take them to be repaired.  There a wonderful cobber in Pennington who will make them look like new.  Is your coat zipper broken?  If the coat is in good condition otherwise, take it to a local tailor for repair.

Reuse

Spring is also a great time for a yard sale. Run one to find homes for clothes, toys, appliances, and books that you no longer need.  Or, check out the local donation centers in Ewing and the surrounding areas at our sister website, EwingRecycles.org.  Check out each to see which works best for what you want to donate.   Don’t forget the Ewing Animal Shelter, behind the municipal building, that will taker unwearable clothes, sheets and towels for pet bedding.

Recycle

Events in April

  • MCIA Household Hazardous Waste Collection and Electronics Recycling Event
    April 8, 2017 at 8:00 am – 2:00 pm at the Dempster Fire School, 350 Lawrence Station Road, Lawrence, NJ 08648.  This event is for residential Waste only/No Commercial Businesses Mercer County Residents Only/ Proof of Residency Required (Driver’s License)
  • Ewing Shred Day
    April 22, 2017 at 9:00 am – 1:00 pm, Ewing Township Municipal Building, 2 Jake Garzio Drive, Ewing, NJ, United States
    Dispose of sensitive documents safely and securely at Ewing’s first Shred Day of the year at the municipal building. Document shredding will be done on site. This service is for Ewing residents only and proof of residency is required.
  • National Prescription Drug Take Back Day in Ewing
    April 29, 2017 at the Pennington Road Fire Company, 1660 Pennington Road, Ewing, Times to be announced.  Dispose of your unused medications safely and responsibly.

Don’t forget Ewing’s Convenience Centers.  Ewing Township has two waste Drop Off Convenience Sites for residential use only (with proof of Ewing residency).   Check http://ewingnj.org/Departments/Public-Works/Brush-Bulk-Waste.aspx for hours.

  • Jack Stephan Way (off of Parkway Avenue, at the old Naval Jet Propulsion Center)
    Brush and Yard waste.
  • Department of Public Works, 136 Scotch Road
    Construction debris, doors and windows, lumber, sheetrock, rugs, broken furniture, small appliances, missed garbage pick up and electronics recycling and more.

Dispose of Unused Drugs Safely with Project Medicine Drop at Ewing Police Headquarters

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The Ewing Green Team is delighted to report that we just learned that Ewing Township has joined the New Jersey Attorney General’s “Project Medicine Drop” initiative, and has installed a Project Medicine Drop box at police headquarters.  So if your medicine cabinet is filled with unused medications that you no longer use, this is an easy and convenient way to dispose of them properly. The practice of flushing unused medications down the toilet is no longer recommended because of concerns about trace levels of drug residues found in surface water, such as rivers and lakes, and in some community drinking water supplies.  Dropping off unneeded drugs in a Project Medicine Drop box is also an important tool in fighting drug abuse and keeping medications from falling into the hands of anyone who might abuse them.

 “In an ongoing effort to continually expand the services offered to the community, we are happy to announce Ewing’s participation in Project Medicine Drop. The drop box provides a safe and convenient location for everyone in our community to drop off unused and expired medications. I encourage all Ewing residents to be aware of this resource and use it as a way to help prevent any potential for abuse,” said Mayor Bert Steinmann.

“Project Medicine Drop is a great addition to our commitment to public safety and the fight against opiate and prescription pill abuse.  The drop box will give residents a quick, easy and effective mechanism to safely dispose of unneeded medication without the fear of those medications ending up in the wrong hands,” Ewing Police Chief John Stemler said.

Project Medicine Drop is an important component of the New Jersey Attorney General’s effort to stop the diversion and abuse of prescription drugs, including highly addictive opiate painkillers.  This initiative also protects New Jersey’s environment by keeping these drugs of the landfills and out of the water supply.

Members of the public are invited to visit the Project Medicine Drop sites and drop off any unused prescription medications anonymously and with no questions asked.  Most Project Medicine Drop sites make this service available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

 More information about Project Medicine Drop, including the full list of Project Medicine Drop locations, can be found at www.NJConsumerAffairs.gov/meddrop.

2016 Autumn Festival a Treat for Ewing Families

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by Lisa Feldman

A good time was had by all on Saturday, October 29, 2016, at the Ewing Community Fall Festival of Fun with the popular annual ‘Trunk-or-Treat’, the Ewing Green Team’s award-winning 3rd Annual Scarecrow Contest, pumpkin painting, build-your-own scarecrow crafting with refreshments and music.

The sun was shining, and it was unusually warm for a late October day but it didn’t stop the spirits of the hundreds of trick-or-treaters from getting in the festive mood. There were over 250 kids dressed up and ready for the collection of dentist-pleasing goodies. Once through the candy-collecting parade, it was on to the pumpkin-painting, hot-chocolate and apple cider and cookies and do-nuts.

With music playing and goodies in hand, it was time to check-out the Scarecrows being judged for cash prizes of $100, $50 and $25.00. These had to be made of 80% recycled materials in order to qualify. While the judging was going on, people could also make their own scarecrows with lots of recycled clothes and fun accessories on hand with the obligatory hay for stuffing which could also win a cash prize of $25.00.

An additional treat was the Ewing Township having a fire truck on hand for kids of all ages to check out with souvenir fire hats being given out.

Judging for the Scarecrow Contest was graciously done by local officials and artists. They were: Councilman Kevin Baxter, Members of the Ewing Arts Commission – Jennifer Winn and Lauren Weber, Artist and Local Art Teacher/Entrepreneur Bill Farruto of Art Has No Boundaries and local art student Clare Maloney.

Emceeing the event was Ewing’s Town Councilwoman Jennifer Keyes-Maloney who also participated in the ‘Trunk-or-Treat’, aka Mrs. Minion and her Minion dog.

  • 1st prize went to: Vicki Laurie and her daughter and their creation ‘Mr. Bones’
  • 2nd Prize went to: Girl Scout Troop#70137, ‘Frankenscout’
  • 3rd Prize went to: Samantha Dupee for ‘Scarlette, the Zombie Eradicator.’

The hours were from 2:00-4:00 but at 4:30 lots of people were still hanging out – a sign of a successful event!  For more photos from the day go to the EGT Facebook page.

All the Green Teams of Mercer County work together to host; March 18th 2017 Mercer Green Fest (formerly the Living Local Expo).