An affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, a nationwide nonprofit that combines education with hands-on projects to make America's communities cleaner and greener, Team Green of SWLA is the face of conservation efforts in Calcasieu Parish.
Barabara Monroe and Emelie Gary of Team Green recently shared recycling tips with members of the Westlake Rotary Club.
Gary, who started the parish’s first residential mercury collection site, spoke about the hazards of mercury, including the elements effects on the human body, how it gets into the environment and where it occurs within households.
Mercury is a common, naturally occurring metal that is a liquid at room temperature. It is a silvery white liquid that is thicker and heavier than water and highly poisonous.
As part of an effort to make the environment cleaner and healthier, Team Green of SWLA and the Wastewater Division work together to eliminate mercury from recreational lakes and streams. It is difficult and expensive to remove from wastewater once it has entered treatment systems like sewer systems, pumps and treatment plants. The mercury from a 4-foot flourescent lamp can contaminate six thousand gallons of water beyond the safe level for drinking.
The collection site is open every Friday from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. and is located at the Wastewater Division at 1132 W. 18th Street in Lake Charles.
The household items accepted for collection are thermometers, non-electric thermostats, lamps (flourescent, high intensity discharge, neon, mercury vapor, high pressure sodium and metal halide), old alkaline batters purchased before 1990 and vials and jars of mercury. For more information, call 337-491-1450.
To view the Lake Charles Green Guide, an 8-page color publication that details recycling drop-off sites around the parish tips for disposing cell phones, computers, paint, debris and iron, visit www.cityoflakecharles.com.
