Blue bins are in, Green bins are out!
Starting April 1st, Deerfield’s new waste and recycling hauler will be Lakeshore Recycling Systems. In addition to saving the village money, the new five-year contract with LRS provides Deerfield residents with a better way to promote sustainability by diverting more of their waste from landfills.
What’s Different?
Although some aspects of waste collection (like the village’s utility bill) will remain the same, there are many important changes to keep in mind. The Village newsletter provides a general overview of what residents need to know about the new service, including a map of new collection days and other collection details.
The Lakeshore Recycling Systems website also has a good summary of their waste and recycling programs. This includes changes to bulk waste and yard waste collection, electronics recycling, and guidelines for can and can’t go into your recycling bins.
Look for these stickers on your new bins to learn more about how to recycle with LRS..
What's that Third Bin for? Compost!
The biggest change to our service is the addition of a third, smaller compost and yard waste bin. Nearly one fifth of all material that ends up in landfills comes from food scraps. By adding this food waste to your composting bin instead of the trash, you can do their part to offset this amount of material, which will help lessen greenhouse gas effects.
Many Deerfield residents have been composting in their backyards for years. To help the rest of us learn how to take advantage of the new bins the Village will have compost toolkits available to residents in April on a first-come, first-serve basis, while supplies last. The toolkit will include a free 2-gallon kitchen compost pail, sample compostable liner bags (BPI Certified) and compost educational materials and tips. To receive your free compost toolkit, please email Communications Coordinator David Fitzgerald-Sullivan at dfitzgerald@deerfield.il.us with your name and contact information.
Composting isn’t as hard, or as messy, as you may think. Like recycling, you mostly need to know what can and cannot go in the bin.