As Earth Day Approaches, Coloradans Have Many Opportunities to Do Their Part

This Sunday, April 22nd, is the 48th anniversary of Earth Day. Here are some of the ways you can participate in this annual event and do your part in preserving this planet for future generations.

On Saturday, April 21st, from 11 am to 4 pm, Lakewood will hold its Earth Day Celebration at the Lakewood Heritage Center, south of Belmar on the west side of Wadsworth. A no-charge bicycle valet will be on hand so your bike will be secure while you listen to live music (three different bands will play), do yoga, attend a compost workshop, learn how to create a sustainable backyard, or visit the electric vehicle expo, where a Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt and my own Tesla Model X will be on display.  I, along with other EV owners, will be there to answer questions and demonstrate each car’s features.  See a full list of Lakewood’s Earth Day activities (far more than other cities, I’ve found) at www.Lakewood.org/earthday.

Recycling is a popular Earth Day activity, particularly the recycling of electronic waste. Adjacent to their Earth Day event, at 777 S. Yarrow Street, Lakewood is accepting e-waste, but for a fee.  Meanwhile, the Denver Metro Association of Realtors will accept e-waste free of charge at its Jeffco office, located at 950 Wadsworth Blvd. from 8am to noon that same morning. You can drop off unused, unwanted and nonfunctional electronics. This is a great way to responsibly recycle nearly anything with a plug or battery!  Recycling is open to the public and is free, with the exception of televisions and monitors, which carry a fee of $20 to $60 depending on size. There’s also a $5 charge if you ask to have hard drive data destroyed.

Residents of the City of Golden can recycle e-waste and many other items during its “Community Pride Days,” which is the weekend of May 19-20.  The city doesn’t charge for this service, although proof of city residency is required. A Golden mailing address does not by itself make you a City of Golden resident.

Year-round you can bring block white Styrofoam to Golden Real Estate’s “Styrofoam Corral” behind our office at 17695 S. Golden Road.  At least once a month, the 10’x20’ corral fills up and we truck it all to one of three recycling/reprocessing facilities, but ours is the only location in Jefferson County for dropping off this material.  We estimate that we keep over 200 cubic yards of polystyrene (the generic name for Styrofoam) out of the landfills every year.

Other recycling:

• You can bring up to 5 gallons of used paint to many Ace Hardware, Guiry’s and Sherwin Williams stores. See www.paintcare.org for locations.
• Donate your unwanted bicycles to the Golden Optimists any Tuesday or Thursday from 1 to 5 pm, at 1200 Johnson Road (next to the Golden main post office).
• Take old clothes hangers to any dry cleaning store.
• Home Depot accepts unbroken CFL light bulbs for recycling.
• Any Staples or Office Depot store will accept used toner or ink cartridges and give you a credit if you are a rewards member.
• King Soopers and Safeway accept plastic shopping bags for recycling.
• O’Reilly’s accepts used motor oil.

Author: Golden Real Estate, Inc.

Golden Real Estate is a prominent member of the Denver/Jefferson County real estate scene. Based in Golden, we service both Denver and Jeffco, representing both buyers and sellers. We're well known for Broker Jim Smith's weekly "Real Estate Today" column published in the Denver and Jeffco editions of the Denver Post's YourHub section each Thursday. The column also appears in several weekly newspapers and is archived at www.JimSmithColumns.com. We have nine agents, all of whom are Realtors and EcoBrokers. Our office is Net Zero Energy since December 2017, and several of us drive electrics cars. Known for our sustainable practices, we accept polystyrene (aka "Styrofoam") for recycling, keeping 200 cubic yards per year out of area landfills. View all posts by Golden Real Estate, Inc.