The “EcoCollection”
9 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 23 at 515 Garson Dr.
Cost: free
Participants must live within the 30305, 30309, 30318, 30319, 30324, 30326, 30327 and 30342 ZIP codes.
Registration is required.
Information: www.livablebuckhead.com or 404-842-2680.
Those old cans of paint, partially-used bags of fertilizer or expired prescriptions may be cluttering up the garage, basement and back of the medicine cabinet. But just what to do with them is a problem, since they can’t go in the trash or the water system.
Peggy Whitlow-Ratcliffe has the solution for her Buckhead neighbors: Bring those hard-to-unload items to the “Eco Collection.” On March 23, residents of the area’s ZIP codes are invited to dispose of or recycle old electronics, household chemicals, paint, expired medications, batteries and fluorescent light bulbs. And there will be a shredder for documents that need to disappear.
This is the third eco-drive Whitlow-Ratcliffe has organized, but it’s the first time she’s recruited the support of City Council representatives Howard Shook and Yolanda Adrean, the Livable Buckhead initiative and the Buckhead Rotary Club.
“There is a cost to do these events,” said Whitlow-Ratcliffe, who lives in the North Buckhead neighborhood. “But it does make a big difference to our health and that of our city, so we want to accommodate as many people as possible.”
Whitlow-Ratcliffe was inspired to start the nonprofit Live Thrive to supports the green initiatives shortly after her mother died in 2006.
“There weren’t a lot of drug take-back programs then, and everybody was taught to flush their expired medications,” she said. “Morphine and cancer medications were literally poured down the drain. I knew there had to be a better way to get rid of them.”
Whitlow-Ratcliffe began blogging about sustainable initiatives and worked for more than a year to organize a small recycling event at Chastain Park to get people interested in going green.
“All the questions people had and the information they were seeking pushed me on,” she said. “I was impressed by how many were really interested in doing the right thing.”
Many of those questions were about how to unload hazardous household waste. Whitlow-Ratcliffe began investigating solutions for getting rid of paint and fertilizer and became so engrossed in the issue that she launched the nonprofit to host more events.
“Putting all this stuff in the trash is the only thing many people know to do to get rid of it, so our aim is to educate people,” she said. “Latex paint can be taken back to paint stores that recycle; light bulbs and batteries can go to take-back programs at Lowe’s and Home Depot. And now, Walgreen’s has a take-back program for medications. Things have come a long way, but it’s still not a topic most people are really aware of. It’s been a learning experience for me, and I want to share that with as many people as I can.”
Each Saturday, we shine a spotlight on a local neighborhood, city or community. To suggest a place for us to visit, e-mail H.M. Cauley at hm_cauley@yahoo.com or call 404-514-6162.
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