FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 20, 2013
MEDIA CONTACTS: Collin Nash, Ryan Mulholland and Sam Marksheid | (516) 869-7794
Town of North Hempstead Announces First S.T.O.P. Event of 2013
North Hempstead, NY– It’s finally spring – and with that comes spring cleaning! Supervisor Jon Kaiman and the North Hempstead Town Board want to remind residents to clean out their garages, basements, attics and medicine chests, and take advantage of the first Stop Throwing Out Pollutants (S.T.O.P.) event of 2013.
This year’s first S.T.O.P. program is scheduled to take place on Saturday, April 6th from 9:30am to 3:00pm at Michael J. Tully Park, located at 1801 Evergreen Avenue in New Hyde Park.
“North Hempstead recognizes the potential dangers of the improper disposal of household hazardous products,” said Supervisor Kaiman. “To address these concerns, North Hempstead offers residents an environmentally friendly way to dispose of household hazardous waste.”
Residents can return items such as aerosols, household chemicals, pesticides, disinfectants, fertilizers, bulbs, thermostats, rechargeable and lithium batteries, TV’s, and computers. Please bring oil-based paints only. Latex and water-based paints, once dried out (usually 24-36 hours after the lid is removed) can be placed in a trash bag and thrown out with your regular household garbage. Latex and water-based paints will not be accepted at the S.T.O.P. collection site. Oil-based paints, on the other hand, are considered hazardous, and will be accepted at any S.T.O.P. Collection Day program.
The Town of North Hempstead is proud to have been the first town in Nassau County to offer a Pharmaceutical Collection Event. In 3 years, the Town has diverted over 3 tons of unwanted drugs from landfills and drinking water. In addition, over half of teens who abuse prescription painkillers report they get them for free from the homes of family or friends, or they take them from family or friends without asking. By bringing this service to each community, North Hempstead strives to keep its children and environment safe.
During the April 6th S.T.O.P. event, residents can also safely shred and dispose of personal documents, thereby minimizing the opportunity for identity theft, while at the same time making an invaluable contribution to the protection of the environment. Residents are invited to shred any paper documents and credit cards free of charge. Once the documents are shredded, they will be placed into containers and sent directly to pulping mills across the country. Every 200 pounds of paper the Town recycles equates to one tree saved.
The Town of North Hempstead is proud to once again partner with Big Brothers Big Sisters to have a truck at the April 6th S.T.O.P. event. Big Brothers Big Sisters will be accepting gently used and working clothes, stuffed animals, electronics, toys, sporting equipment, shoes, books, small area rugs, bikes, scooters, luggage, picture frames, table lamps, bolts of fabric, silverware, glassware, dishes, and cosmetics. Each resident will receive a receipt for their donation for income tax purposes.
“We want people to reduce, reuse, and recycle as much as possible,” said Supervisor Kaiman. “With each recycling opportunity offered by the Town, the closer we come to our goal of changing the nature of garbage.”
For more information on the S.T.O.P. program, please call 311.