Home Chemical Collection Center

A shout out to the City of Dallas for providing us the Home Chemical Collection Center – a place to take all the icky things we don’t want in our landfill. The center is at 11234 Plano Road which is north of LBJ on Plano Road, past the intersection of Miller and Plano Road, just over the railroad tracks. The hours of operation are a bit strange but you can call to confirm they are open when you can get out there – 214.553.1765. Be sure you take your TDL and water or utility bill to prove your residency. You don’t have to live in Dallas, but you do have to give them your address.
They are open Tue- Thur and the 2nd and 4th Saturday of each month.

Tue 9am – 7:30pm
Wed 8:30 am – 5 pm
Thur 8:30 am – 5pm
Sat (2nd & 4th) 9am – 3 pm

You can take all kinds of things to the Collection Center – old paint, auto fluids and filters, lawn chemicals, aerosol cans, pool chemicals, household cleaners, gasoline, light bulbs, batteries, computers and peripherals, cell phones, and cables and wiring.
There is no limit to how much you can take, I have taken a pickup bed full of odds and ends (when we moved from our home of 13 years we had lots of old chemicals in the garage). If I get real organized, I let my neighbors know I am going on a particular day and they bring me their old chemicals to take at the same time.
If it sounds easier to just throw these chemicals into the trash, remember that whatever goes into our landfill is very likely to make its way into our water system. So dedicate a bucket in the garage for these items and when the bucket is full, make a trip to the collections center. You pay for this Center with your tax dollars, so you should take advantage of the service!

One Day Dallas

Residents here in Dallas are lucky enough to have a curbside recycling program in place for residents (not for businesses) and our fmaily has been an increasingly dedicated participant for several years. We love the service and are glad to pay for it through our taxes. I have had an issue with the service. Our trash is picked up twice per week (grey roll cart) and our recycling is picked up once every 2 weeks (blue roll cart). I am sure it is different for other households, but we can barely fill our trash roll cart once a week, let alone twice. And every other week we put out our blue cart of recycling and an additiona couple of bags of recycling.
The good news is that Dallas will be changing the schedule of pickup beginning March 1. To roll out the new scheduleing change, called One Day Dallas, the Department of Sanitation is holding meetings. I attending one of the first meetings at Stonewall Jackson Elementary and Keri Mitchel was nice enough to quote my synopsis on The Advocate Blog.

The Director of Sanitation Services for Dallas (Mary Nix) gave the presentation. Starting March 1, the City will be picking up trash and recycling one day a week. Right now they are picking up trash twice a week and recycling once every two weeks. This change was planned in 2004 and has been piloted since then as a way to encourage Dallasites to recycle. The pilot results in the Northern part of Dallas have been very successful. This is the final phase of implementation, which will involve the last 180,000 households in Dallas not currently using this schedule.

The audience seemed to favor the change for the most part. This particular roll-out also involves changing many households from alley service to curb service, involving the homeowner using a roll cart at the curb where they were previously using bags in the ally. This particular issue generated more questions that the change of scheduling.

I also learned that three sizes of roll carts are available – every home is originally given large, 95-gallon roll carts; blue for recycling and gray for trash. If the 95-gallon trash roll cart is unwieldy or simply too large, you can request a medium roll cart (60-gallon) by calling 311 and they will bring it right out. Also, if you want an even smaller roll cart (45-gallon), call 311 and one can be special ordered for you.

If you feel like you have more trash than can be hauled once a week, you can ask that an additional 95-gallon trash roll cart be delivered to your house. You will pay an additional onetime charge of $10.50 for the trash roll cart. You can get as many recycling roll carts as you want. Mary asks asks that you try out your current roll cart situation until after March 1, and see how it works before you call in to make a change of any kind.

Caramel Nirvana

One of my favorite yummy things to buy at the White Rock Local Market is a decadent product with a boring name. CARAMEL MILK SPREAD from Lucky Layla Farms is a luscious, flowable carmel confection that needs a re-name. My vote is Caramel Nirvana which more closely describes this all natural indulgence. I must admit, I’m not a big caramel lover, and I originally bought my first tub of Caramel Nirvana for my holiday favorite, pumpkin flan. I am now officially a Caramel Groupie!

For those of us looking to support reputable local producers, Lucky Layla is a very good choice. Lucky Layla has a dairy of about 100 Jersey and Guernsey cattle in Plano Texas and a production facility in Garland, so this product is as local as it gets. Their products are all natural and hand created using milk that is rBGH free. You can visit their farm (and on-site farm store pictured above)at Parker and Jupiter in Plano.

Lucky Layla also make cheeses and butter – and did I mention their Caramel Sauce??? You can buy an 8 oz tub for yourself at the White Rock Local Market for $3.50. The Green Spot carries Lucky Layla cheeses, but not the caramel, so you will need to stop by the market to get your fix.

White Rock Local Market closed for winter

I've just heard back from Sarah Perry over at White Rock Local Market and the rumors are true - the market is closed for the winter. So sad. But there is a bright spot on the horizon at The Green Spot (yes, pun intended!). The White Rock Local Market will open again in March ... and ...drumroll please ... they are looking at TWO markets per month starting in March!!! See, we knew 2010 would be a banner year! The website for the market is experiencing a reboot, but I'll list the address here if you want to check in later for updates www.whiterocklocalmarket.com

In the mean time, you might be able to find some of your favorite products at the Green Spot. Some of the vendors are also in the Bishop Arts area. Check back with me and over the next few weeks I'll be waxing poetic about some of the great products I have bought at the Market. It will give us some inspiration to keep busy with while we wait for March.