Greetings , fellow gardener of the north . As a Hennepin County Master Gardener , I ’m used to fielding questions about gardening . From “ does my ash tree tree have emerald ash bore bit ? ” to “ why do I never get any tomatoes ? ”
I ’ve been contributing pillar , feature of speech article and exposure toNorthern Gardenermagazine for about three days now , and jump at the chance to contribute to this newfangled characteristic on the blog .
Have a gardening question ? Send it toinfo@northerngardener.org . Each month , I ’ll take a question to answer right here . If I do n’t get to your question , come impose a Master Gardener booth at a local farmer ’s market or call the Yard & Garden line at ( 612 ) 301 - 7590 . We live for this clobber .
Other helpful resource :
Yard & Garden Home
What ’s Wrong with My Plant ?
What louse is this ?
The Master Gardener Volunteer program
Without further flurry , here ’s our plain - off question for July .
Q : Where can I take my black charge card pots and trays to be recycled ?
A : This time of twelvemonth , I always find myself with a heavy box of leftover charge card plant pots and tray . What to do with them ?
Unfortunately , they ca n’t be recycled through most metropolis ’ curbside recycling programs , since black plastic is not accepted . The reasonableness ? Machines at facility that accept unsorted recyclables utilize ocular scanning to “ attend ” for credit card , which they angle out of the stream of reclaimable materials . As cool as these machines are , they are not ( yet ) advanced enough to “ see ” black plastic . Therefore , most cities do not swallow fateful plastic for recycling .
So what ’s an earth - minded gardener to do ?
First , ask yourself whether you’re able to repurpose any of the pots for your own use . If you do any seed bug out , uncompromising jackpot can be used several times before their lifespan is up . I ’ve been using the same fatal credit card pots to start seeds for several class now . Just be sure you clean them good with live , soapy water with a bit of bleach added to it to kill any pathogen that might be cling to them .
Once you ’ve set up aside the one you may recycle , it ’s time to figure out where you may take the eternal sleep for recycling .
Home Depot accepts all plastic pots - I called my expanse ’s Home Depot in Richfield to confirm . Lowe ’s bear plastic tummy AND trays . The favorable common people at the Lowe ’s in Plymouth confirmed . It does n’t hurt to call first , just to make indisputable .
Finally , you could also take steps to obviate this problem in the first place by seeking out plants that are started in compostable container , or save money and avoid black plastic by starting more of your perennials the sluttish way withwinter sowing .
Jennifer Rensenbrink is a University of MN Extension Master Gardener for Hennepin County . She grows aboriginal plant , vegetables and yield in her south Minneapolis yard . you may espouse her gardening adventureson Instagram .
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