400 to 500 Cars Expected at Saturday's Medfield Green Day

Recycling has become a way of life for many people and Saturday will present another opportunity for Medfield residents to live green.

On April 30, from 9 a.m. to noon, Medfield Green will hold its third annual community recycling day at the American Legion, 110 Peter Kristoff Way.

The event will take place rain or shine, and was moved this year to the American Legion to provide more space inside and outside. 

“The program was started to give everyone a one-stop opportunity to recycle all their things,” said Steve Catanese, chairman of Medfield Green, an organization dedicated to ‘learning and sharing how to live green’ according to www.medfieldgreen.com.

“Certain groups [charities] only take certain things but we try to make it easy; we have about 14 vendors this year,” he said.   

Those vendors include Dress for Success, Bethany House, Fairy Godmother, New England Center for Homeless Veterans, Planet Aid, Cradles to Crayons, Medfield Public Library, Medfield Animal Shelter, Bikes Not Bombs

Items to be collected and donated to others to reuse include shoes, women’s suits, men’s suits, adult clothing, prom dresses and accessories, books under 40 years old, videos, CDs, DVDs, infant clothing and toys, baby equipment (no car seats or cribs), small household appliances, bicycles, and used building materials. 

They will also be collecting electronics (including televisions and computers) for a small fee to handle the hazardous waste. There will be a hard drive shredder on site on Saturday.

“They can open up the computer and they’ll physically shred your hard drive to give you some peace of mind,” said Catanese.

Medfield Green will also be collecting used appliances and metals.  If necessary, Catanese said he can pick up those items – such as old gas grills, refridgerators, etc. – if people contact him atmedfieldgreenmetals@gmail.com

The Medfield Police Department will collect expired prescriptions and cough medicine. 

The Department of Public Works will be selling transfer station stickers since all 2011-2012 stickers will expire next month, said Catanese. 

There will also be a swap area for sporting equipment.

“Inside, we will have a used [sporting] equipment swap area where, if your kids’ shoes are too small, you can bring them in and drop them off and maybe someone else will drop off a larger pair that you could take,” said Catanese.

The group had 300 cars attend last year’s event and expects between 400 and 500 cars this year since it is collaborating Bikes Not Bombs, a group that collects bicycles that are sent to underprivileged areas around the world.   

Also new this year is Boston Building Resources, where gently-used building materials – such as cabinets, doors, windows, etc. – are resold at discount prices.  The general public can shop at the Dorchester store but income-eligible customers may qualify for a lower price.

“People should think of them before thinking about the landfill,” said Catanese, noting that donors may receive a tax credit for their materials.

The point of Medfield Green Day is to keep it simple.

“Some people think that recycling is so hard but if we keep it simple, they’ll be inspired to participate,” he said. 

For more information on Medfield Green Day, visitwww.medfieldgreen.com or contact Catanese at scatanese@verizon.netor (508) 359-9760.