Dumps
To leave trash at the Town Transfer Station, you need to buy "dump tickets” at Town Hall, Valley Grocery or Valley Hardware. You pay for your trash by weight using the punch card tickets so there is a money-saving incentive to recycle heavy stuff like glass and paper. Things like tires and refrigerators are charged extra fees using the same tickets. The dump is closed Tuesdays and Thursdays. There are “bulky days” a few times a year for disposing of things like old furniture and mattresses for free. Call 518-576-4692 with any questions.
Take old electronics to Best Buy in Plattsburgh. The dump will not take electronics anymore.
You need to take construction waste to the Lake Placid Dump which is a right turn off Rt 73 a little bit past the LP Airport. If you go with a pickup truck, your trash must be covered with a tarp. Call (518)523-2940 for hours. It is closed Thursdays, Sundays and holidays.
The Essex County Landfill in Lewis also takes construction waste and has a hazardous waste disposal day once a year. Call 518-873-9249 with any questions.
Recycling
The Transfer Station has one of the best recycling programs in the area. All metal, all glass, most paper and #1 and #2 plastic can be dropped off. There is also a place to leave deposit beverage containers which are turned in to raise money for programs at the School. A shed to leave off and/or pick up decent stuff is in the works. For details on current recycling call Town Hall at 518-576-4692.
If you have some perfectly useful items that you cannot sell, or don’t want to bother selling, maybe you would be pleased to give them to someone who could use them. Well, Essex County Freecycle is the place for you. You sign up then simply post a description of the item you are giving away (or the item you need). The only rule is that no money can be involved.
Cutting down on junk mail is easy. Catalog Choice is free and lets you cancel any or all catalogs while selecting the ones you do want. To stop credit card offers you have to call 1-888-576-8688. You can recycle the junk mail you get, but opting-out of getting it saves a lot more energy.
The are also printer cartridge recycling services by mail.
Drop off old rechargable batteries for things like power tools and portable phones and even old mobile phones at Valley Hardware in KV, Wilson Appliance in Elizabethtown, and also in Saranac Lake at 622 Lake Flower Ave, the strip mall, at either the Ace Hardware or Radio Shack located there. The corrugated cardboard box looks at first like it is only for cell phone batteries but you can drop off any rechargable battery (computers, phones, power tools, etc) or old phone.
Keene Green is a local grassroots group dedicated to local action to improve the environment. They have helped expand recycling at the dump. They issue a "tip-of-the-month" to Keene households, etc.
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