Here's more great eco-friendly holiday tips from Babara Lucks and the City of Springfield's Public Works Department.
Food waste from Halloween through New Year's is the highest of any time during the year.
- Before you prepare holiday meals, take a head count and adjust the amount of food accordingly to avoid waste.
- Be creative with left-overs.
- Dispose of grease properly so it doesn't create sewer line problems.
- Never pour grease down the drain.
- Pour grease into a metal or glass container and place in the trash. A lid is required on a container holding liquid grease. Containers of solid grease do not need a lid.
- Scrape food and grease from dishes and pans prior to washing.
- To receive a copy of the "Fat-Free Sewers" brochure, contact Randy Lyman, Public Works Department, Sanitary Services Division, 417-864-1921.
On Monday, we'll write the third post of this series about holiday trash.


Dickerson Park Zoo celebrated the birth of Nisha in July 2006. It is with heavy hearts we announce today that late yesterday afternoon, Nisha began showing symptoms of a typically fatal elephant herpesvirus.