Franklin County

Native Plant Swap on July 12

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Join the Franklin County Pollinator Pathway on Saturday, July 12 from 10 a.m. to noon for a Native Plant Swap at Franklin Soil and Water. Please bring native plants or seeds you wish to share or swap with others. No invasives please. If you could bring your plants in pots or boxes, not plastic bags, and label them beforehand, that would be so helpful!

Also check out other events with the Franklin County Pollinator Pathway here; including events at Franklin Park Conservatory, webinars, garden tours and a gardening festival.

Free Webinars: Importance of Native Plants on June 25; Early Detection of Woodland Invasive Plant Species on June 27

Festivals and Sales: Scioto Gardens 14th Arts and Gardening Festival on July 12; Midwest Native Plant Conference Plant & Artisan Sale in Dayton on Aug 2.

Post-Holiday Cleanup with City of Columbus Convenience Centers

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When it’s out with the old and in with the new after the holidays, residents can use the City of Columbus Waste and Reuse Convenience Centers as a one-stop solution for environmentally friendly cleanup, reuse and recycling.

Residents may drop off a variety of items at the Convenience Centers, at 2100 Alum Creek Dr. and 1550 Georgesville Rd., for reuse, recycling, composting and proper disposal. After the holidays, households may have more trash, including cardboard and gift wrap, old electronics, bulk items and food scraps that don’t fit, or shouldn’t be disposed of, in their city refuse and recycling containers.

The Convenience Centers accept these items and more, including string lights, donated bicycles and gently used clothing and furniture for reuse. The centers are operated by the city’s Division of Refuse Collection, and staff is available to assist residents with proper sorting when they drop off items.

The city service diverts the amount of trash tonnage taken to the Franklin County Sanitary Landfill to help extend its life and support Columbus Climate Action Plan goals.

The Convenience Centers are open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. but will be closed on Christmas, Dec. 25, and on New Year’s Day, Jan. 1. Get more information here.

Refuse Collection also offers seven drop-off sites for food scraps composting collection that Columbus residents can access seven days a week, 24 hours a day. The designated outdoor collection containers are located at these city Recreation and Parks sites:

  • Bill McDonald Athletic Complex, 4990 Olentangy River Rd., 43214
  • Dodge Park and Community Center, 667 Sullivant Ave., 43215
  • Scioto Southland Park, 3901 Parsons Ave., 43207
  • Beatty Park and Community Center – 247 N. Ohio Ave., 43203
  • Northeast Park and Howard Community Center – 2505 Cassady Ave., 43219
  • Linden Park and Community Center – 1350 Briarwood Ave., 43211
  • Carriage Place Community Center – 4900 Sawmill Rd., 43235

Get more information about what you can drop off at the food scraps collection sites here.

Get WastED With SWACO

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SWACO has launched WastED, a waste and recycling podcast to give voice to many of the innovative sustainability and recycling initiatives taking place across central Ohio. By sharing these stories with listeners, we demystify the recycling process and build confidence in the recycling system.

This month’s episode includes guests from Rumpke Waste & Recycling and Coca-Cola Consolidated chatting about Ohio’s circular economy and what, exactly, happens after families put their metal cans and plastic bottles into their recycling bin each week.  Join the conversation. Download the podcast below or listen wherever you stream.  

Have You Heard The News? Greasy Pizza Boxes Are Now Recyclable

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Cardboard pizza boxes have long been accepted for recycling in Franklin County but thanks to recent advancements in the recycling industry, greasy pizza boxes can also now be recycled. Three billion pizza boxes are used across the country each year, adding up to 600,000 tons of corrugated cardboard that could be collected for recycling. That’s thousands of tons of material that could have been recycled every year but which instead ends up in landfills.