Gardeners in the City of Madison have some new recycling options in 2008. The City of Madison will be able to recycling most plastic plant pots. In addition, a new plant exchange category has been set up on the Madison Stuff Exchange.

"Every spring the Streets Division gets hundreds of request for information on the recycling of plastic flower and plant containers, " Madison recycling coordinator George Dreckmann said. "Until this year we have had to tell people that theses pots had to be put in the trash. Well, not any more."

The City of Madison will now accept flowerpots, plastic lawn edging, hard plastic plant containers and garden trays for recycling at its drop off sites at 1501 W. Badger Rd. and 4602 Sycamore Av. These plastic items can be recycled as part of the City's rigid plastic recycling program.

"The flowerpots must be clean to be recycled, so residents will have to rinse out any dirt in the pots," Dreckmann said. "We can only accept the hard plastic flowerpots and trays. The light plastic containers most often used for multi-packs of vegetables and flowers cannot be recycled."

The City of Madison' drop off sites are open from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. They are also open on Tuesday and Thursday from 8:30 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. For more information on the rigid plastic recycling program visit www.cityofmadison.com/streets or call 267-2626.

On Line Plant Exchange

Every spring area gardeners will have extra plants either because they are thinning out an existing garden or because they purchased more plants then they can use. Now those extra plants can find a new home through the Madison Stuff Exchange.

"We have created a plant exchange category on the Madison Stuff Exchange to give area gardeners a chance to find good homes for their unneeded plants and to offer others a chance to get great plants at a bargain," Dreckmann said.

The Madison Stuff Exchange is a web site that is open to anyone who lives or works in Dane County. You can register for the Stuff Exchange and shop for bargains on plants and hundreds of other items by going to www.madisonstuffexchange.com.