Chestertown Environmental Committee volunteer Wendy Wander and co-founder Jon Hanley man the committee’s booth Saturday, Sept. 3 at the farmer’s market.

While the committee was at the farmer’s market Sept. 3, they collected one black trash bag filled with bottle caps and lids and another filled with #5 plastic containers.

Chestertown Environmental Committee volunteer Wendy Wander and co-founder Jon Hanley man the committee’s booth Saturday, Sept. 3 at the farmer’s market.

While the committee was at the farmer’s market Sept. 3, they collected one black trash bag filled with bottle caps and lids and another filled with #5 plastic containers.

CHESTERTOWN — The old adage “reduce, reuse, recycle” has an expanded meaning — or at least what can be recycled has.

The Chestertown Environmental Committee has expanded the recyclables it accepts to include not only stackable #5 plastics and bottle caps, but also #5 prescription medication bottles, CFL lightbulbs, alkaline batteries and health and beauty products, including toothbrushes, deodorant containers, toothpaste tubes, floss containers, mouthwash bottles, plastic razors and even razor blades.

“Basically we take things that the Kent County recycling center does not take,” said Wendy Wander. “They obviously take the #1 and #2 plastics, glass, paper, we don’t take those.”

Andy Goddard, a member of the environmental committee, said the recycling initiative started in 2009 as the Green Team under former Mayor Margo Bailey. Its first initiative was banning plastic bags in town and establishing the Chestertown Earth Day Festival.

The committee started participating in the Saturday downtown farmer’s market in 2021.

The #5 plastics are taken to Eco Plastic Products of Delaware in Wilmington. Those products are then made into benches.

The committee has had one bench made so far, collecting 17,100 bottle caps to make it happen, Jon Hanley said during the farmer’s market Saturday morning.

Hanley, is a founding member of the committee.

“At the current rate of collection, we figure one trip (to Eco Plastic Products) per month,” said Goddard. “It is our hope to pick up a bench with every trip.”

Wander and Goddard said the plan is to put those plastic benches all over town and in the various parks. Some businesses and entities have approached the committee about purchasing benches for specific locations.

Each bench costs $400. While some of the partnerships provide shipping labels to send materials to the recycling centers, there are some shipping costs. To meet those demands, the committee accepts donations at its booth during the farmer’s market.

Alkaline batteries given to the committee are turned over to LaMotte Company in Chestertown, which combines its own used batteries and sends them to Illinois for recycling.

The health and beauty products are sent to TerraCycle in Ashton, Pennsylvania.

Wander said the toothpaste tubes get shredded and while she was not sure how the other products were recycled, TeraCycle accepts them all.

According to TeraCycle’s website, after items are recycled into raw formats, manufacturers are able to make new products from them.

CFL lightbulbs are also shipped to a recycling facility.

Wander said the interest in recycling CFL lightbulbs is falling, so the committee may discontinue that service.

When items are brought to the table at the farmer’s market, volunteers help those who are donating sort their items into the various bins to ensure everything being dropped off is accepted for recycling.

“Wendy this year, singlehandedly, has taken this booth from this (#5 plastics) to this (everything else),” Hanley said. “It’s just huge. She expanded to all this stuff.”

In the year Wander has volunteered with the committee she has tried to get the word out about what recyclables are accepted.

Wander said most of the recycling partnerships she has created have been found through Google searches. She is still looking to expand what the committee accepts.

Goddard said between January and July 2022, the committee has collected 1,040 pounds of alkaline batteries, 294 pounds of #5 plastics and 342 pounds of plastic bottle caps.

During their hours at Sept. 3 farmer’s market, the committee collected over two black trash bags worth of #5 plastic containers and caps.

“We started out collecting small bags of things daily and now it’s at the point where we fill a whole car to take it to a shed someone has very generously offered to loan us to store everything,” Goddard said.

She also encouraged people to shop smarter and think about what products are coming in, and reducing the overall number of plastics being purchased.

For more information about the Chestertown Environmental Committee and what plastics it accepts, contact Hanley at jonphanley@gmail.com. To sign up for the monthly newsletter, email Wander wwander@verizon.net.

Currently, recyclables are only being accepted 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays at the Chestertown Farmer’s Market, March through October. The booth is located at the corner of Cross Street with High Street. With additional volunteers, those hours may be expanded.

Goddard said during the winter, the committee has some buckets for recyclables at 357 High St. during farmer’s market hours.

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