Tips
Refuse & Recycling Tips
Refuse should be put in bags and / or cans with lids. No bag or can may weigh over 50 pounds. Recycling containers are available at City Hall, 15901 Excalibur Road. Only one per resident please. Recycling may be put in
any container or box by marking on it, "RECYCLE". The city is phasing in use of large recycling carts. For information about that program, see our
recycling cart FAQs.
When your recycling day falls on one of your refuse days, please place your recycling on one side of your driveway and your refuse on the other.
Latex Paint
Latex Paint is
not considered hazardous waste. To dispose of old cans of latex paint please make sure all paint is dried (if not, it will leak from trucks onto roadways!). You can dry it quickly by removing the lids and / or adding kitty litter to absorb the paint. Then place it with your regular trash.
Oil & Antifreeze
The city operates a drop off facility for used oil, filters, and antifreeze just inside the Public Works entrance on Route 450, just west of Route 3. This facility is open from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m., Monday through Friday and on the first Saturday of the month from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. All other Saturdays it is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs (CFLs)
There are new energy efficient light bulbs on the market. Known as compact fluorescent light bulbs or CFLs, they are generally recognizable by their spiral shape, although they can come in traditional shapes as well. These bulbs use 75% less energy than incandescent bulbs and last up to 10 times longer. However, CFLs contain minute amounts of mercury, and must be treated as hazardous waste when cleaning up broken bulbs or disposing of them.
At present, these bulbs and other hazardous waste must be taken to the county’s Landfill in Upper Marlboro for disposal. To contact the County Hazardous Waste Office, call 301-883-5045. For more information about CFL bulbs, visit the
Energy Star website.
Electronics Recycling
As a community service, Best Buy stores now accept electronics (computers, televisions, etc.) for recycling. Visit the
Best Buy website for details.
Other ways to recycle electronics include:
Junk Mail
The city currently provides curbside newspaper and junk mail recycling for city residents. However,not having recyclables generated in the first place is even better! The individual junk mail pieces sent to households in Bowie numbers in the tens of thousands every year. A Junk Mail Reduction-Elimination System would lessen or eliminate this junk mail from ever arriving at your house in the first place.
If you have too much junk mail to deal with individually, here is something you can do about it. Send a postcard or letter to:
Mail Preference Service
Direct Marketing Association
P.O. Box 643
Carmel, NY 15012-0643
Include your complete name, address, zip code and a request to "activate the preference service." For up to five years, this will stop mail from all member organizations that you have not specifically ordered products from.
For those who have used this service in the past and those currently using this service, it really works. After all, how many new credit card solicitations do you need? The five minutes you take to contact this service will save you many times the return of your investment, and will help the environment in the process.
