by Jolene Toves

Guam - Residents will have the opportunity to do their part in thinking green by rounding up recyclables in their home and bringing them to the Dededo Mayor's Office this Saturday. Each week the average household on Guam generates about 42 pounds of trash which is then sent to our island's landfill.

With such a large amount generated residents are encourage to do their part in diverting as much recyclable material as possible from the landfill, so round up your recyclables and head over to the Dededo Mayor's Office this Saturday. i-Recycle program coordinator Peggy Denny told KUAM News, "We had one in April during Earth Month at the Agana Shopping Center and it was fine but we want to be more aggressive. We are expanding a little bit and we are going to be partnering with Mayor Melissa Savares and it will be held in Dededo on Saturday June 21st and I think we decided on 9 to 12 or 9 to 1 as opposed to a full day which is just as well because the carnival will be still going on."

They will be accepting recyclable material such as aluminum cans, glass, plastics and waste cooking oil to name a few. "And we decided that we being Guam Nature Alliance and AC Delco so we are partnering with them because they collect vehicle batteries and they pay for them," she said.

The recycling round up held this past April was the first time the i-Recycle Program partnered with AC Delco and it proved to be successful. "AC Delco this recycling roundup was just done this past April and this was the first time we partnered with them but people brought in 104 vehicle batteries some were surprised that they were even getting paid for them which has kind of been the standard for awhile now but I believe that AC Delco pays more than possible anybody else the paid out almost $800," she explained.

With such a great response from the community the i-Recycle program has partnered with IT&E to accept cell phones, with many tech savvy residents cell phones are becoming another item that once broken or upgraded become a permanent fixture in many household drawers as people just don't know what to do with them or how to dispose of them.

She said, "But it's basically accepting any type of cell phone that will ultimately be shipped off island and recycled in some fashion. But I am often asked about cell phones what can we do with them so this is a great opportunity to be able to recycle them and not throw them in the trash."

Denny says the round up is a good way of helping residents appropriately dispose of items, particularly those who do not have curb side recycling or those who have items that are not accepted in that program. She adds that they also plan on hosting another recycle round up next quarter in the southern region of Guam.