Save Your Styrofoam and Pitch It

Mark your calendar for at least two chances in 2013 to recycle clean Styrofoam (with the triangle symbol), electronics, textiles and other items at Zero Waste Days, June 1 and Nov. 2.

The events are in Marblehead but open to Swampscott residents, as well. 

The collections typically run from 9 a.m. to noon at the Marblehead town garage on Tower Way, said Pat Boldys of the Marblehead Recycling Committee.

Residents regularly recycle paper, glass and cans in weekly curbside pickups or by taking them to the town transfer station.

But Zero Waste Days give people a chance to recycle those items not accepted as part of regular recycling.

Pat Boldys said residents do a great job storing their Styrofoam and other materials, as shown by a collection at a 2012 Zero Waste Day.

"People came with bags and bags and bags of Styrofoam that they collected in their garages and basements," she said.

The company that recycles Styrofoam drove off with a large truck full of it — bound for reuse instead of a landfill.

Pat said the town hopes to add, at some point, a Styrofoam collection station to its transfer station.

Swampscott also had a Zero Waste Day in 2012, and as any information becomes available about a 2013 event, we pass it along.