More than recycling

Gary Church's Green Team continuously looks for ways to care for God's creation. We encourage you to read The United Methodist Church's Social Principles: Community of All Creation. And, learn more about the growing creation care justice movement in The United Methodist Church.


In addition to the quarterly Styrofoam recycling events (see below), the team invites you to bring your own reusable dishes and utensils for all your food and fellowship opportunities at church, including when you provide treats.


Is your church group interested in learning more about how they can support low-waste events or be involved in caring for creation? Contact the Green Team through the Church Office - we’d love to explore this with you.


As the Green Team explores the carbon footprint of Gary United Methodist Church in Wheaton, Illinois, look to the e-news for new ways in how you can help.


Tuesday, Sept. 29, doors open at 5:30 p.m., livestream starts at 6 p.m., Anderson Room

You're invited to a watch party! Gary Church is livestreaming Bill McKibben's keynote talk from Faith in Place's 2026 Environment & Spirituality Summit.


The Summit's theme, Grounded Resistance, explores how we engage the world from a place of deep grounding, collective support and sustained resistance. McKibben is an author, educator and environmentalist who helped found 350.org, the first global grassroots climate campaign, and recently founded Third Act, an organizing movement for people over 60. Drawing on decades of organizing, writing and movement-building, he'll ground the Summit in the moral and spiritual stakes of the climate crisis and invite communities of faith to harness their collective power to confront fossil fuel reliance and advance climate justice.


The watch party is free, and all are welcome—invite friends! Learn more about the Summit and register to join at aes-summit.org. 


Styrofoam recycling

As part of our Christian responsibility to care for God’s creation, Gary United Methodist Church in Wheaton, IL, has operated a Styrofoam recycling ministry for several years, with the goal to keep this useful but non-degradable material out of our landfills. Increased online purchasing has exacerbated the desire by all to reduce disposal of this material. Our volunteers take the collected items to the Dart Container Corporation 24/7 public recycling center, 310 Evergreen Dr., North Aurora.


2026 Styrofoam recycling dates

The recycling collection Sundays in 2026 are Jan. 11, April 19, July 19 and Oct. 18, 8:45–10:30 a.m., South Driveway. Can you help one time or more for collection or driving duties? If so, please contact Elaine McCluskey through the Church Office.  If you miss the dates, feel free to drop off Styrofoam at Dart Container Corporation, 310 Evergreen Dr., North Aurora.




QUIZ: CAN THESE BE RECYCLED IN YOUR CURBSIDE RECYCLING CAN?

Cardboard egg cartons
Clean aluminum foil
Paper towels
Paperback books
Bags that contained flour or sugar


It’s important to learn more about what can and cannot be recycled, so you don’t contaminate your entire recycling can with one item. Take the quiz above. Answers can be found on your city’s website or on a helpful list of items that should not be placed in curbside bins, which is available from SCARCE.

Remember that #6 plastic (Styrofoam) is one of the things you cannot place in curbside recycling.

~Elaine McCluskey and the Styrofoam Recycling Team


To find out more about recycling in your community, go to your city’s website and search “recycling” or find links to the city and county webpages below.