Reminder - Home Electronics and Propane Collection Event

Just another friendly reminder, Cayuga County Residents can recycle thier discarded Home Electronics this Saturday, May 30, 2009, at the Natural Resource Center, 7413 County House Road, Auburn. The event presents an excellent opportunity to discard home electronics and propane tanks in a safe manner. Proper disposal protects human health, our community and the environment.
For more information click on the link below.

Link to detailed blog entry on this recycling event:
http://owlanews.blogspot.com/2009/05/home-electronics-and-propane-cylinder.html

Focus on mowing, not fertilizing.......

With the lawn care season in full swing, we are all spending time caring for our yard. I have seen numerous articles in magazines and newspapers lately with various bits of environmentally friendly guidance for our lawns. One article I read on the web was quite interesting. It was from the Horticulture Dept. at Cornell and the title was "For A 'Green' Lawn, Focus On Mowing, Not Early Fertilizing" It really hits home with the on-going issues with heavy Phosphorus loading in the fingerlakes. We can all do our part to minimize the amount of phosphorus that gets into our lakes and streams. Take a look at the article through the link below.

- get out and enjoy the outdoors! - Lakeman

link to Cornell Dept. of Horticulture lawn care article :http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/news/lawn.html

Boating Safety - It's National Safe Boating Week!

With the boating season upon us, all boaters should take a moment to refresh their boater safety knowledge.

The Auburn Citizen has a regular column on Sunday's during the spring and summer covering all aspects of safe boating. The U.S. Coast Guard Auxillary authors these columns and we encourage you to take a look. In their upcoming series they plan on covering a few of the safety aspects that tend to create trouble. These include, among others, navigation rules, anchoring, docking, trailers and trailering and distress calls.

Link to Auburn Citizen article:http://www.auburnpub.com/articles/2009/05/10/lake_life/lakelife02.txt

There are plenty of sources for Boater Safety information on-line, as well as in the user manuals that come with most marine equipment.

So take a few minutes today and review proper safety procedures in your boat's owners manual or check out some of the links we have included at the bottom of this article. As the weather gets nicer and we take to the beautiful waters of upstate NY, please remember to boat safely!

Get out and enjoy the Lake! - Lakeman

- link to the NY Boater safety guide: http://www.nysparks.com/boating/resource.asp
- link to US Coast Guard Boater Safety web-site: http://www.uscgboating.org/SAFETY/safety.htm
- link to an online Boater Safety Course: http://www.boatingbasicsonline.com/

Home Electronics and Propane Cylinder Recycling Event

Just a reminder, Cayuga County Residents can recycle thier discarded Home Electronics two weeks from today; MAY 30, 2009.

Details from the solid waste web-site:

This spring all residents of Cayuga County and the City of Auburn are invited to participate in the 2009 Home Electronics and Propane Collection Event. The event presents an excellent opportunity to discard materials in a safe manner. Proper disposal protects human health, our community and the environment. The materials collected at this event will be recycled to the fullest extent possible by our contractors.

Date, Time, Place:
Saturday, May 30, 2009.
Running from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Located at the Natural Resource Center, 7413 County House Road, Auburn, next to the jail and nursing home.

Fees:
$5 fee for each small Freon applicance (air conditioner, dehumidifer, and mini-fridge), TV and computer monitor (limit is 2 TV's)*
All other household electronics are FREE**
Propane tanks accepted for FREE (size limit- 40 pounds)*TV's and computer monitors can contain 6 to 8 pounds of lead in their cathode ray tubes, so they cost more to process. Many computer manufacturers provide recycling services for products purchased from them. However, these services usually cost between $10 and $30.** Floor model copiers are not considered home electronics, but may be accepted at the sponsor´s and contractor´s discretion for $10 each (limit 1).

Acceptable Household Electronics Include:
All computer components
Computer monitors $5 each
TV's (Limit 2) $5 each
VCR's
DVD players
Printers
Desktop and Tabletop Copiers
Stereo systems
Radio
Microwaves
Telephones
Cables
Ethernet wires
Modems
Game systems (for example Nintendo or Sega systems)
Cell phones

Also accepted will be:
1 pound to 40 pound propane tanks
Hand held cylinders containing such gases as oxygen, MAPP and helium
Small freon appliances such as air conditioners, dehumidifers, and mini-fridges for $5 each (see below for larger freon appliances).

If you have questions about whether or not a specific item will be accepted, or if you are a business and want references for electronics collection and recycling services, please call Irene Holak at 315-255-1183, or email solidwaste@cornell.edu.

This event is sponsored by Cayuga County Solid Waste Management Program Office, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Cayuga County, Cayuga County Department of Planning and Economic Development, and the Cayuga County Soil and Water Conservation District. Funding is provided by the Cayuga County Legislature, NUCOR Steel of Auburn, Inc. and the NYS DEC.

link to the Cayuga County Solid Waste web page:http://cayuganet.org/hazwaste/electronics09.htm

New bi-weekly OWLA column in the Citizen

Starting this past Monday May 5th, the Auburn Citizen began publishing a bi-weekly column from OWLA concerning Owasco Lake and it's watershed. The first column was written by Charlie Greene, our Vice President. OWLA's goal with this column is to raise awareness of lake issues, as well as to educate the public on various topics relating to the preservation and protection of the Owasco Lake Watershed.

Quote from the Citizen's editors recent column describing thier new bi-weekly feature:

" On page A9 of Monday's paper, we launched a new column that will run in that space every other Monday into the fall.“OWL Watch” is a column that leaders of the Owasco Watershed Lake Association will write to inform readers on a wide range of issues related to the health of the watershed. Owasco Lake's well-documented water quality challenges deserve special attention, and we're fortunate to have a group such as OWLA willing to put in the time to share information with readers.This week's column dealt with a basic explanation of how watersheds work, and future columns will build from there."

see the OWLA web-site home page for a link to the complete article in PDF at: http://www.owla.org/index.html