Beyond Green Team
There are many ways you can make an environmental impact on your own from recycling hard-to-recycle items to planting native plants.
Kane County Recycling Center
517 E Fabyan Pkwy., Geneva, IL
Open to the public M-F, 8am-4pm. The center accepts a variety of items year round including:
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electronics
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clothing
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shoes
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appliances
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A full list of accepted items can be found here.
Dart Container Corp. Foam Recycling
310 Evergreen Dr., N. Aurora, IL
24/7 drop-off. Acceptable items include both food service foam and packing foam. Look for the #6 in the chasing arrows to confirm it can be recycled. Foam does need to be bagged to keep it from blowing out of the collection bins.
TerraCycle Free Recycling Programs
TerraCycle offers a wide variety of free recycling programs that you can participate in on your own. Some of the many different recycling programs include:
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Small sauce packets (Hot Sauce, Ketchup, etc.)
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Some programs will allow you to earn points that can be turned into monetary donations for various organizations. HC Storm is an official recipient of funds through TerraCycle!
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A full list of free programs can be found here.
Plastic Bag Recycling
Trex sponsors year-round bag recycling with collection bins available at many local retailers. In the Tri-cities, drop bins can be found at Jewel, Kohl’s, Fresh Thyme and Meijer.
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Additional details for what can and cannot be recycled through this program can be found here.
Planting Natives
Adding native plants to your yard will help support a wide variety of local organisms by providing food and shelter. Native plants are well adapted to our local environment which means that once they are established they do not need to be watered! They also never need to be fertilized!
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There are many local organizations that hold yearly native plant sales. These events are also staffed with people knowledgeable about growing native plants that can answer your questions.
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Check these organizations each spring to details about their native plant sales:
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These are just a few of the many native plant sales that happen each spring!
Leave the Leaves
Each fall, leave areas of your yard unraked. Some of the best are to leave the leaves are garden beds and under trees.
These fallen leaves provide shelter through the winter for many beneficial and well-loved insects including fireflies, luna moths, and bumble bee queens. Do not shred your leaves as this will harm these insects!
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These leaves will also provide a food source for birds in winter who eat the insects hiding inside. Leaving dead seed heads on your plants will also feed the birds throughout the winter.
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These leaves will provide an added benefit of moisture retention and weed suppression before they break down. As they break down, they will release nutrients back into the soil.