Spring Cleaning: MTNA and NTNA 2025 Cleanup Event

A Meeting of the Neighborhoods and Neighbors! April 17th, 2025

This is a long blog post (a marathon, not a sprint), but it likely answers just about any question you may have about this event:

Our annual neighborhood cleanup is Saturday, May 17, 2025. [The same Saturday as the Mt Tabor Art Walk, so clean and pack up your junk, drop it off at the Cleanup event, eat lunch or a second breakfast, and meander your artist neighbors, with recharging stops at neighborhood eateries.]

Mt. Tabor (MTNA) and North Tabor Neighborhood (NTNA) Cleanup 2025

When: Sat. May 17, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Where: Unity Spiritual Center of Portland Parking Lot, SE 47th and Stark

How to volunteer: Email Paul Leistner (prleistner@gmail.com), who can also find answers to your questions about what items the Cleanup event organizers can/can't take.

Details, Details, Details, from Paul’s messages to our Mt Tabor neighborhood email groups:

“Start gathering your junk! Our annual neighborhood cleanup is fast approaching.

The Mt. Tabor and N. Tabor Neighborhood Associations (NTNA/MTNA) are working together again this year to host our joint cleanup event. (The cleanup is in May this year because the parking lot we use was not available in April.)

The cleanup is a great and convenient way to get rid of clutter and junk in your home. (Info about the cleanup is also available on the MTNA website.)

We’ll take bulky waste and and smaller amounts of yard debris.

Green Century will be at the event and will be recycling a wide range of electronics. (See the list of what they will and won't take below.)

We'll have a reuse area for items that can still be used. Community Warehouse will also be at the event to pick up items that can be reused.

We will be deconstructing items with metal to recycle the metal.

(See below for a list of what we cannot take. Contact Paul Leistner (prleistner@gmail.com) with any questions about what we can/can't take.)

PLEASE NOTE change this year:

No Styrofoam recycling: We no longer have a free place to take Styrofoam for recycling. Styrofoam will go into the drop boxes with the other bulky waste. You can recycle Styrofoam at Green Century in NW Portland for $10 for a 45-gallon bag. (Visit their website to see what else they recycle and their recycling fees.)

Our 2025 cleanup will be on:

DATE: Saturday, May 17, 2025

TIME: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

PLACE: Unity Spiritual Center of Portland Parking Lot, SE 47th and Stark

COST: Donations will be accepted

WAYS YOU CAN HELP: Handy People with Tools, Yard Sign Host, Lollypop People

Volunteer!: We need a lot of volunteers to make this event work. Bring a friend or a group from your community organization. It’s fun! (Bring your own gloves.) To volunteer, contact: prleistner@gmail.com

• Help direct traffic and unload cars and trucks, and sort recyclables.

• Shifts: 8 to 11 a.m. and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

• Bring your tools and help in our “deconstruction area”—this allows us to recycle more—especially valuable metal!

• Host a yard sign—help advertise the cleanup: Consider hosting a cleanup yard sign if you live on a busy street with lots of car or foot traffic. Contact Paul Leistner (prleistner@gmail.com) with your address in the Mt. Tabor neighborhood (Paul will drop off the sign and retrieve it after the cleanup).

WHAT WE CAN'T TAKE:

• No household hazardous waste (e.g. NO paint, pesticides, solvents, asbestos, gasoline, chemicals, motor oil, tar, paint, batteries, animal waste, liquids, pool chemicals, wood stain, antifreeze, thinners, aerosol spray products, syringes, medications, poisons, toxic chemicals, herbicides, household cleaning products, fluorescent tubes and ballasts, compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL))

• No large quantities of construction or landscape materials (concrete, asphalt, dirt, sod, brick, sand, gravel or composition roofing.)

• No roofing materials (e.g. asphalt shingles or rolled roofing)

• No commercial or industrial garbage

• No freezers, refrigerators, compressors or other items containing Freon. (Green Century will accept air conditioners at our event.)

• No regular household garbage or food waste (things that should go in your curbside pickup)

• No lightbulbs (no regular bulbs, fluorescent tubes, compact fluorescent bulbs, LEDS, etc.)

• No styrofoam for recycling.

• No toner or ink cartridges.

• No electronic media (e.g. CDs, DVDs, floppy disks, VHS tapes, cassette tapes)

• No tires on or off the rim.

• No fire extinguishers.

• We retain the right to refuse any item.

PLEASE DON'T BRING ANYTHING THAT WE'RE NOT ALLOWED TO ACCEPT.

• Call the Metro Solid waste and Recycling Hotline (503-234-3000) to find out how to dispose of any of these items.

• Metro will be hosting a number of neighborhood household hazardous waste events this spring (click here to see the calendar of their Spring 2025 collection events)

• We'll try to research and have suggestions available at cleanup for where you can dispose of or recycle many of these items.

• Contact us if you are unsure about whether you can bring something to the cleanup.

• QUESTIONS?: Contact prleistner@gmail.com.

We hope to see you at the cleanup!

Paul Leistner, president

Mt. Tabor Neighborhood Association”

MORE on the Clean-up!

“GREEN CENTURY RECYCLING—What they will and won’t take.

They will take:

ALL MATERIAL IS ACCEPTED IN WORKING OR NON-WORKING CONDITION

● Computers

● Laptops

● TV & Monitors (All types)

● Hard drives (Secure Data Destruction Provided)

● Misc. Computer Components (Floppy drives, Printed Circuit Boards (PCB), etc.)

● Cords/Wires/Chargers/Power strips

● Servers/Switches

● Routers/Hubs/Modems

● Networking Devices

● Communications Equipment

● POS (Point of Sale equip)

● Printers/Scanners

● Fax/Copiers

● Keyboards/Mice

● Misc. Office Machines

● Misc. Electronics

● VCRs, DVD Players

● Cable & Satellite Equipment

● Testing Equipment

● Stereo/Audio Components

● Cell Phones (with or without batteries)

● PDAs, Handheld Games

● Cameras

● Telephones

● Returned or Unwanted Products

● Gaming Consoles/Systems

● UPS (uninterruptible power supply) and other Lead Acid Batteries

● Small/Large Appliances (which includes microwaves, toasters, blenders, etc.)

● Electric Power Tools

● Laptop Batteries, Cell Phone Batteries, Li-on batteries

● Ferrous & Non-Ferrous Metals

● Air Conditioners

● Bare Tube CRT

They won’t take:

The following material will not be accepted during this event.

● Household size batteries (AA, AAA, C, D, 9V, button cell, etc.)

● Ni-CD & Ni-MH batteries, all types/configurations

● Fluorescent Tubes and lamps (All types)

● Ink/Toner Cartridges

● Media (CD, DVD, floppy, VHS, Cassette, tapes)

● Ballasts

● Capacitors

● Styrofoam/Stretch Film

● Refrigerators, Freezers, most water coolers, some dehumidifiers

● Fire Extinguishers

● Mercury Containing Devices (Thermostats, Ionization Smoke Detectors)

● Wood

This blog post was published on April 14, 2025, by Laura.