Squeak now or forever hold your pieces.

Pieces of Styrofoam, that is.

We’re giving a big shout out this week to our favorite earth-friendly heroes at Zero Waste and Bay Hay & Feed.

The pair are joining forces once again for Bainbridge’s semi-annual Styrofoam recycling event.

This weekend — from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 23 and Sunday, July 24 — islanders who have Styrofoam (in block or cooler form) can bring by their pieces (which need to be clean, white, dry, snappable and free of all tape and stickers) for the collection event.

Organizers of the collection event note that Styrofoam can’t be picked up by regular recycling programs because it breaks apart too easy, which causes contamination of other recyclable materials.

The whole Bainbridge bring-in event got started five years ago when Howard Block of Bay Hay & Feed teamed up with Sustainable Bainbridge’s Zero Waste program to offer a Styrofoam collection event on Earth Day.

In the years since, the effort has been modified to two drop-off events, once in July and one in January. (OK, so we were joking about that “forever hold your pieces” bit.)

After the Styrofoam is collected, Block takes the squeaky stuff to Styro Recycle in Kent. The Styrofoam is then cut up and melted into 50 pound blocks, which is then sold to plastic recyclers who make everything from crown molding to electronic cases to electric outlet covers to picture frames.

On your way to the garage to collect up your Styrofoam? Don’t forget to dip your hand into your change jar before you head to Bay Hay & Feed; a 25-cent donation is required to pay for the big storage bags needed to collect the Styrofoam before it makes its journey south.