Carl Hosticka

Martin Luther King Jr. once said "Life's most persistent and urgent question is: 'What are you doing for others?'" In honor of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service on Monday, Jan. 16, check out the following opportunities to get dirty, have fun and help out.

Zoo celebrates 2011 attendance milestones, anticipates even brighter future

The Oregon Zoo will ring out 2011 in record fashion this weekend with the final nights of its best-attended ZooLights ever –– and then ring in 2012 with a celebratory day of free admission on Monday, Jan. 2.

Got holiday stuff to recycle? From trees to old TVs, learn what to do with what’s left behind.

Residents with curbside service for yard debris can add their Christmas trees, wreath and swag, too. Remember to remove all lights, wire, tinsel, ornaments, nails, stands and other materials. Another option? Let a scout troop, school group or service club collect the tree as part of its fundraising program. For a small fee or donation, organizations will collect trees, along with wreaths, the first weekend of the year. Some will continue recycling them the following week. Call Metro Recycling Information at 503-234-3000 or check online for the nearest options.

Find a recycler  

Packing peanuts aren’t recyclable curbside, but folks can take clean, dry packing peanuts to a shipping store for reuse. Some locations also may accept bubble wrap and sheets of packing foam. Block foam isn’t recyclable curbside, but a handful of businesses accept polystyrene block foam marked '6' inside the recycling symbol. Another possibility? Save the materials for your next big packing project. Call Metro’s recycling hotline or search the online directory for more details on local options.

Search online

Making the switch to energy-saving LED holiday lights? Throughout its winter ZooLights festival, the Oregon Zoo is collecting old incandescent lights for recycling. Zoo visitors who drop off their old holiday light strings by Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012, will get a coupon for free fudge at the Zoo Store.

Learn more 

Consider donating excess food to a local food bank, shelter or other charitable organization that can accept it. For leftover food scraps, don’t forget to compost. With minimal equipment such as a compost bin, it's easy to turn trimmings into a garden-boosting soil amendment. Plus, Portland residents can now toss kitchen scraps – including fruit, vegetables, meat and dairy – into their green roll cart for curbside pickup. To learn more about waste-free holiday meals, visit Metro's news page.

Visit Metro News

To learn which electronics recyclers take mice, keyboards and printers, cell phones, VCRs, DVD players, fax machines or handheld devices, call Metro’s recycling hotline at 503-234-3000. Another option? Offer still-good electronics to friends or relatives who can use them. Oregon E-Cycles, a statewide industry program that collects computers, monitors and televisions for recycling, makes it even easier to keep valuable materials out of the landfill. For free recycling locations in the Oregon E-Cycles program, call 1-888-5-ECYCLE (888-532-9253) or visit the website.

Learn about Oregon E-cycles

From garbage and old furniture discarded in an alley to tires and rusted drums piled in a public park, it’s easy to spot an illegal dump. Metro's Regional Illegal Dumping Patrol partners with local governments including law enforcement to help clean up illegal dumps on public property. To report an illegal dump site in Multnomah, Clackamas or Washington county, call RID Patrol at 503-234-3000 or visit the website.

Learn about the RID Patrol 

Of course, Metro also has the scoop on what kinds of packaging and gift wrap are recyclable, where to take other items that residents can’t recycle at the curb and how to maximize reuse options. Call Metro’s recycling hotline for details, or get waste-wise ideas online.

Learn more at Metro's site

The Southwest Corridor Plan Steering Committee received a preview of and discussed a corridor existing conditions report, including information on population, employment, health, community amenities and transportation access affecting people in the Southwest Corridor between Sherwood and downtown Portland, at their meeting on Monday.

To get a first-hand sense of the communities in the Southwest Corridor between Sherwood and Portland, Metro councilors Carl Hosticka and Barbara Roberts led the Southwest Corridor Plan Steering Committee on a bus tour of the area Monday morning.