Christmas Tree Recycling Program

Big Horn Electric Crew Chipping Christmas Trees into Mulch

For the past 14 years, the WCCD has organized the collection and disposal of Christmas Trees in Worland and Ten Sleep.  Every year, an army of volunteers from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Washakie County Conservation District, Worland Rotary Club, Rural Development, Farm Service Agency and the Ten Sleep Sage Stompers 4-H Club team up to pick up Christmas Trees in alleys of Worland and Ten Sleep. The District organizes groups to pick up Christmas Trees on a scheduled day each year. They ask local residents to leave their trees (which need to be clean and free of all decorations, tinsel and stands) beside dumpsters in alleys the morning of the pickup.

Over the past several years, Big Horn Rural Electric Company have donated their equipment and manpower to chip the Christmas Trees.  The mulch is made available, at no cost, to local residents.

Ten Sleep Recycling

In 1998, the Washakie County Conservation District (WCCD) purchased three receptacle bins to place in Ten Sleep to receive Aluminum cans, office paper, newspaper and magazines. As well, the District built a wooden enclosure for cardboard.  In 2008, the WCCD purchased a compartment-type recycling trailer for the community of Ten Sleep for their recycling program.  This trailer has eliminated the need for 4-H members to empty the individual dumpsters and separately haul the recyclables to the Worland recycling facility.  The 4-H members can simply hook on to the trailer to transport the recycled items without handling them.  Currently, the bins that were purchased in 1998 are used for aluminum cans and to store extra cardboard until the trailer can be emptied.

Since the Ten Sleep Sage Stompers 4-H Club has taken on the responsibility of emptying the bins and transporting the recyclable items to Worland, as a community service project, the WCCD pays the 4-H Club for mileage back and forth to the Worland recycling facility. The cans are taken to a local aluminum recycler and the 4-H Club gets all proceeds from their sale.

Household Hazardous Waste Collection 

Along with the members of the Reduce Reuse Recycle Coalition, WCCD has now successfully hosted 5 household waste collection events. In the Spring of 2006 the Washakie County Weed and Pest a members of the R³ Coalition received a grant from the Wyoming Department of Agriculture for the disposal of pesticides and herbicides, and the Washakie County Solid Waste Disposal District #1 using funding it had available, helped the R³ Coalition  provide a full scale collection event.

The Collection events have been well received by local residents and surveys taken of those who participated showed that there is a need to continue this service. The R³ Coalition is targeting 2008 for its next collection event.

 

Compost Turner Plans

The WCCD has budgeted funds for 2009, to purchase a compost turner and have begun visiting with local feedlot operators to gain support in using the turner to compost their manure.