Valley Garden Club reuses garden plastics
The used pots can be found at the Valley Community Recycling Solutions center near Palmer.
By Sue Wallin
Valley Garden Club has been recycling clean, usable garden plastics in partnership with Valley Community Recycling Solutions for quite some time.
We are open to the public April 1 through Sept. 30 to gather, sort, stack and store reusable garden plastics. We pack and store these pots, flats and six-packs throughout the winter to help meet the needs of small Valley gardeners during the spring seed-starting season and beyond.
We welcome clean pots of all sizes. We are not equipped to handle commercial drop-offs. We respectfully request that large-scale operators work together to ship their plastics by barge for reforming. Contact Faltz Landscaping and Nursery for details on how they have been doing so for many years.
Thanks to the MEA Charitable Foundation, we now have a 20-foot Conex to store garden plastics over the winter. Thanks to Spenard Building Supply, we have lumber to build freestanding shelving. Thanks to Chris Novak, we have a countertop that allows us to sort and stack while standing. Thanks to the Alaska Railroad, we have the rail ties supporting our storage unit. Thanks to Alaska Custom Containers for the craftsmanship in insulating and lighting our storage Conex.
If you have not used our service, please check us out.
Use Lane 2 of the drive-through at VCRS near the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Central Landfill. Drive toward the end of the lane, where you will see our banner, table and sorting area.
Take a pot or take 25. Leave clean garden plastics when you are finished with them.
Please note: No wire, terra-cotta pots, ceramics or pot carriers. No mud, water, snowmelt or compost. If you have planted in Solo cups or cottage cheese containers, please wash them and place them in the No. 5 recycling bin.
Although we now have storage space, we cannot store broken, cracked or dirty plastics. These items are trash. Please take trash to the landfill. Our volunteers are not equipped to handle trash.
Our goal is to reuse these garden plastics many times, helping keep costs down for small growers.
Take a pot or leave a pot as needed, April 1 through Sept. 30.
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