The Dedham Sustainability Advisory Committee will be kicking off Earth Day one day early on Saturday, April 21, with its Bi-Annual Recycling Day from 8 a.m. to noon at the Dedham Middle School, 70 Whiting Avenue.

Dedham residents can drop off materials for free, except for electronics which will be accepted with a nominal fee. All proceeds go to support the Neponset Sunrise Rotary Club.

Bring your polystyrene plastic (stamped #6), including solid blocks of packing foam, coolers, sheets of white foam, clean and dry polystyrene coffee cups, grocery meat trays (free of all other packaging), and takeout clam shell food packaging. No packing peanuts will be accepted.

All polystyrene material must white; no color foam will be accepted. The material must be clean, dry and free of tape, stickers, and labels. Please put all foam in a plastic bags to prevent the material from scattering. Polystyrene material cannot be loose in the dumpster.

Bikes Not Bombs will also be on hand, collecting used bicycles as a vehicle for social change. They reclaim thousands each year and ship most overseas to economic development projects in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. There is a $10 fee to cover shipping. Visit their website to see bikes they will and won't accept.

Other materials are also being collected, including:

• Scrap metal
• Textiles, such clothes, shoes, linens and stuffed animals
• Paper for off-site shredding.
• Mercury, which is found in numerous household items such as older thermometers, thermostats, button-cell batteries and fluorescent lamps.The Transfer Station hosts a permanent Mercury Shed. Please do not bring any broken mercury-containing items to this event.

For more information:

• Download the event flyer,
• Download the price list for recycling electronics, appliances, and similar materials, 
• See the recycling page
• or visit Green Dedham on Facebook.