The Adventures of Dot the Christmas Elf.
Laugh a Little. Learn a Little.

Hi Friends!  Remember me?  I’m Dot and I am back from the North Pole to help the HDS team spread a little holiday cheer.  I’ll be sharing some insider info about holiday recycling and other fun things that go on around here.  I’m super excited to be reunited with Wendy the Waste Truck for some holiday shenanigans.  Check in often to see what I am up to.  I’ll be here until Christmas Day!

Tonight was pretty amazing.  I actually got to ride along in a lights parade! Oh what fun!  Being a part of the communities we serve has always been important to Homewood Disposal.  So important, in fact, that it is one of their main core values as a company (along with family, service and stewardship).  Tonight we took part in a favorite community event in Tinley Park, the Holiday Lights Parade.  Wendy the Waste Truck was dressed as Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer this year and was all lit up with lights. Everyone waved as we drive down the street with our Christmas music spreading good cheer.  And guess what, I even saw my boss, Santa Claus, close out the parade.  I am having so much fun already this season!

Busy day today.  I got to tag along with the recycling experts as they visited a 2nd grade classroom.  The education department at HDS offers free recycling presentations to local schools.  They help kids get a head start on ways to help protect the planet.  Cool!  The students enjoyed a presentation and an activity which taught them how to properly sort garbage and recycling.  Even the teachers said they learned something.  This year the team at HDS visited over 2300 kids and they hope to increase that number next year!

I wanted to take a ride on a real-life garbage truck while I was in town. They said I probably wouldn’t reach the peddles so I hopped on the back of driver Kevin Vandervelde’s rear load truck.  Kevin’s one of the best!  He’s been here over 30 years! You can see him driving around the Homewood area in his beautiful truck that runs on Compressed Natural Gas!

I barely had time to warm up from my nightly visit to the North Pole before my friends at HDS sent me back out into the cold for another mission.  Today I got to help deliver recycle carts to new residents. These carts are awesome because you can put so many recyclables inside and it’s so easy to just wheel them out to the curb. Because HDS cares about the environment and wear and tear on your local roads, the recyclables placed in this bin are picked up every other week instead of each week in most areas.  I hear the marketing department is putting up the 2019 Recycle Schedules online on December 14th.  Just enter your town name and get all the info you need.  It’s super easy.  If you need help remembering your recycle day these calendars are super handy!

I’ve learned so much about HDS in my short time here.   In business for over 62 years, they have a history with deep family roots.  As a three generation company, HDS values Family, Community, Stewardship and Service and put those ideas to work in everything they do.  They offer a variety services including residential, commercial, recycling, street sweeping, portable restrooms, public CNG stations and more!  Over the years other companies have joined them, including NuWay Disposal, Star Disposal, Kankakee Disposal, Tinley Park Disposal, Heartland Disposal, and Star Disposal of Indiana. Recently they decided to come together under the Homewood Disposal Service (HDS) name in all areas. No matter which of the names you recognize, they operate under the same loyalty, integrity, and the same trusted teal color.

Mrs. Claus is known for her amazing cooking skills.  However, in the North Pole, Friday nights are reserved for pizza!  While I am in town I wanted to try the local favorite that everyone has been raving about.  The pizza was delicious but while we were cleaning up, I made a rookie mistake.  I tried to recycle the greasy pizza box!  Whoops! My friends at HDS quickly informed me that greasy pizza boxes are NOT recyclable!  The same goes for used paper plates.  Wow, I learn something new every day!  Learn more about recycling here.

It gets lonely around here on the weekends.  I usually walk around the office and look at all the pictures on everyone’s desks.  Family is a core value here at HDS and it’s nice to see all the wonderful families represented.   Tonight while checking out the Marketing Department I came across this fidget spinner!   One of my jobs at the North Pole is to help put these together! What a coincidence. I totally had to check this one out to see if it was built properly.   Looks good to me!

You guys have all seen the movie Toy Story, right?  You know, the one where all the toys come to life when no one is watching.  That happened here last night.  I just sat down to enjoy some candy that I found at the front desk (there is a lot of candy around here) when I heard a horn honking.  I thought that was weird since it was so late so I went to investigate.  As I turned the corner into our dispatch office I spotted him!  The cutest little stuffed Wendy the Waste Truck!  He usually tags along with our education department to school visits but he must have heard I was visiting and wanted to play!  We are going to have some fun together!

Today I took a tour of Homewood’s state of the art recycling facility! They operate one of the largest in the Midwest! It was so awesome. Every day about 700 tons of recyclables pass through here to be sorted and baled before they are shipped off and turned into new products! HDS offers these awesome tours to small groups during the warmer months too! Though I am pretty sure they won’t let you ride a water bottle down the conveyor belt like I did.

Today was the best day ever.  I was able to tag along with five HDS employees to deliver toys to the pediatric patients at Christ (Advocate) Medical Center in Oak Lawn.   HDS is one of the few groups allowed to go in and deliver toys to each child in the hospital. It was such a special experience to see the expressions on the kids faces when they were handed a toy. It was so rewarding to provide some sort of happiness, even for a moment, for these patients.  The HDS team carefully chose gifts for kids of all ages to make sure everyone received something they loved. More donations continue to come in every day from our employees which will be delivered during the hospital’s bulk pickup in a few weeks!  It’s great to see HDS supporting the local community through donations like this!

I’m still glowing from delivering all of those toys yesterday. What a thrill. But it got me thinking…what happens to all those plastic toy packages? Do we throw them in the garbage can or should I recycle them because they are plastic? I went to the recycling experts for answers. While so many of the toys we make in the North Pole come in plastic packages, I was shocked to learn that they are not part of the recycling program. Sure, they are plastic, but right now, only plastic tubs, jugs and bottles are part of the program. Toy packages like this should go into the garbage. Looks like we have to rethink they way we package toys at the North Pole.

Today I got to help answer the phones! Did you call in and speak to me today? How did I do? I was a little nervous but I caught on quickly. Now I know why they say HDS provides “The Kind of Service Others Only Promise”. There is so much to learn about the garbage and recycling industry! Thanks to my friend Karen for showing me the ropes.

They talk a lot about the “Three R’s” here at HDS.  You know, reduce, reuse and recycle?  Well, here’s a fun way I discovered to reuse this old metal garbage can lid.   Whheeee! Kind of reminds me to Clark Griswold.

Today I snuck into the boss’s office to search the web.  I ended up spending hours looking at Pinterest.  HDS has some really awesome boards to browse like upcycling crafts, Earth Day ideas and eco-friendly solutions.  The one that caught my eye was the one called “Elf Shenanignas”.  Some of my fellow elves are really having some fun while they visit from the North Pole.  You should check it out!

Help!  Today I went back to the recycling center and I noticed something stuck to the machines that help us sort through paper and containers.  I climbed up slowly and carefully to see what it was. Turns out it was a plastic bag!  See, plastic bags and the recycling center don’t mix.  Plastic bags should be placed in your garbage can or brought to a collection site like a grocery store.  They should never go in  your recycling cart.  As I tried to pull the bag out, I fell in too!  Now we are both stuck and clogging up the machines.  Hopefully I can escape soon!

Phew. I made it out of the recycling center. Being stuck in there gave me some time to think about how important it is that we throw the proper material in our recycle bin. When items are placed in your recycle bin that don’t belong, it can cause big problems for the machines and could contaminate the good products! That’s why HDS says Basic Recycling is Better Recycling. Stick to the basics like paper, cardboard, tin, aluminum and plastic tubs, jugs and bottles when recycling! Check out their website for some really cool information.

Today I am assigned to the commercial dispatch department. They are a busy bunch. Their phones ring all day with people looking to rent large dumpsters. Everyone must be de-cluttering before they have guests over for the holidays. Dumpsters are a quick and easy way to get rid of all that old stuff.  I walked outside to take a peek at one for myself and whoa!  I think Santa should ditch his old sleigh and fill up one of these dumpsters to help with his Christmas deliveries. Do you know how many toys Santa can load into one of these things?  I might suggest the idea to him tonight when I fly back to the North Pole for my daily briefing.

The office was quiet today so I took a walk outside to check out the CNG fueling station.  CNG stands for “Compressed Natural Gas”.   It’s cleaner and more safe than diesel and a majority of the HDS trucks run on this domestic gas.   They have stations in Gary, IN., Park Forest and right here in Homewood, IL.   This station is even open to the public so if you’ve made the choice to purchase a vehicle that runs on CNG, you can fill up right here!  I’ve only been here a short time and I can already tell how much Homewood Disposal cares about the environment.  I can’t wait to tell you more.  In the meantime, read more about CNG here.

Wow, time is really flying around here. Today was the last safety meeting of the year for our drivers. They discussed safe driving practices, winter hazards and initiatives like “Slow Down to Get Around“. It was great to meet some of our drivers too. HDS has so many drivers who have been here for over 20 years! That’s an accomplishment!

It’s hard to imagine but in just about a week, people will be ready to start taking down their Christmas trees. Some people are unsure of how to get rid of their live trees, but I have the inside scoop! As long as they are free from decorations like lights, ornaments or tinsel, you can go ahead and put it out for pickup on your regular garbage day! It’s that simple! Christmas trees are the only item exempt from the landfill yard waste ban during the month of January!

As a Christmas elf, I can’t help but love all things bright and shining! That’s why I just HAD to go check out this 2000 pound aluminum bale that we made in the recycling center today. These cans will be shipped away to be turned into new cans, airplane parts, baseball bats and more! I did notice they were a little sticky though. HDS asks that you please makes sure all containers and rinsed clean and dry before placing them in your recycling bin.

Can you believe it!? Two days before Christmas and a string of lights went out on the HDS christmas tree. Luckily we had some backups. I’ll go ahead and throw in the old ones the garbage. I’ve been here long enough to know that Christmas lights should never go in the recycling bin.

As I prepare to head back home, my friends at HDS are preparing to spend some time with their families. They will be closed on Christmas Day and New Years Day. So if your pickup day is Tuesday – Friday, please have your material out one day late for these two weeks!

Merry Christmas Everyone. I am headed back to the North Pole today for some much needed rest. I’ve learned so much from my friends at HDS and I hope you did too! Be sure to check back throughout the year with Wendy the Waste Truck for more helpful information! Until next year!