How do you save Mother Earth? One day at a time. Or, in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, one household hazardous waste drop-off event at a time.

This year’s annual waste drop-off event was held on Oct. 10 and served close to 200 vehicles and trucks across a six-hour time window. The event was coordinated by the SRPMIC Environmental Protection and Natural Resources team.

ENPR Staff Archaeologist Asa Andreas and EPNR Senior Environmental Engineer Carol Hibbard provided O’odham Action News with the official stats from this year’s SRPMIC household hazardous waste drop-off:

• 178 vehicles and 12 community pickups visited the drop-off station.
• 6,817 pounds of waste was diverted from landfill disposal.
• 50 tires were dropped off.
• 1,400 pounds of paper were shredded. (For comparison, one ream of paper weighs 5 pounds.)
• The event disposed of large amounts of electronic waste and other hazardous waste such as lithium-ion batteries, fluorescent bulbs and vehicle batteries.

For more information on EPNR, email epnr@srpmic-nsn.gov or dial (480) 362-7500.