Q: With all the electronics that will be given at Christmas, is there a place in Atlanta that will recycle Styrofoam packing material?
—Keith Wahlig, Riverdale
A: Styrofoam is a brand name for polystyrene, the foam packing material. It can be recycled at Dart Container, which has a foam recycling drop-off location at 2120 Lithonia Industrial Blvd. in Lithonia. For more information, call (770) 482-8851 or go to www.dartcontainer.com. Atlanta residents can recycle polystyrene, electronics and latex paint, and have paper documents shredded, at collection events sponsored by Keep Atlanta Beautiful, Gloria Hardegree, the executive director of the Georgia Recycling Coalition, told Q&A on the News in an email. A Community Recycling Center is at Second Ponce de Leon Baptist Church on the first Saturday of every month. The other is at the Walden School in Old Fourth Ward on the second Saturday of every month. They're open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. "All packing peanuts are accepted for re-use at UPS and FedEx shipping retail stores," Hardegree wrote. "Just bag them up and drop off during regular business hours."
Q: A recent article about Pepsi stated that Diet Coke still uses only aspartame. Didn’t Coca-Cola begin using Splenda in the past few years?
—Lance DeLoach, Thomaston
A: Coca-Cola began selling Diet Coke with the sugar substitute Splenda in 2005, in conjunction with its regular Diet Coke line, which is flavored with aspartame. It's packaged differently than regular Diet Coke, with the words "Sweetened with Splenda" on the label with the Splenda logo. It's more difficult to find because the demand isn't as high, a Coca-Cola spokeswoman told Q&A on the News.
Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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