Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Help Promote Recycling

Here’s a great step for recycling in Tiverton:

The Tiverton Recycling Committee has partnered with the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation to create a new sponsor-a-public-recycling-bin program to help improve recycling rates at some our town recreation areas.

Anyone who has spent time at one of our town’s youth sports events knows how much trash is left over after a game -- and how much of that waste is in the form of recyclable cans and bottles. That’s ground zero for the new effort. I think it’s a great partnership between the leagues and the town to help make a difference.

According to the press release, the new CycleMax program runs like this: For a $65 sponsorship (or 5 units for $300), you help the Recycling Committee put a ClearStream(R) CycleMax container (picture from manufacturer) at one of our local recreational areas. This bin is printed with your sponsorship information and monitored by the appropriate youth sports league (e.g., Little League), who transports the recyclables to the Town Farm facility after am event.

It seems the program works. The press release states that CycleMax containers are in use by over 1,500 communities nationwide. The clear nature of the bin helps ensure the public uses it only for recyclable materials (fingers crossed). They are sanitary and portable, making them even easier to use.

This is a great move. Kudos to Steve Rys and the Tiverton Recycling Committee for making it happen. For small businesses in town looking for a worthwhile -- and different -- kind of sponsorship opportunity, this is a win-win.

The Committee needs commitment for at least five sponsorships before the bins can be purchased. If you’re interested, send an email to Cheri Olf at recycling@tiverton.ri.gov.

Come on. They only need five. Sustainable Sakonnet is going to chip in for one. Can four other readers of this blog commit to the same?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can help out with sponsoring a bin- this is a great idea- you think the land trust might want to advertize themselves this way? How about RI Audubon society- I wonder if we can get this started in Westport too.- shelli

BILL GERLACH said...

Great, thanks, Shelli. I agree. It would be great to see these bins in any and all places that people frequent and/or have an existing trash bin present. I just got back from visiting a couple of national parks in Utah and the Park Service has them everywhere. Real convenient (and a real positive statement).

Check out the link to the manufacturer's website. They seem pretty easy to get a hold of.

Bill

Ginger said...

Bill,
Good idea. What's the progress on this? Do you have the units you need? I'd be curious to know who signed up for the sponsorships. Also missed the announcement in the Sak Times (was there one?) so glad to see you covering it here.
I wonder if the recycling could be brought to MA and with the $$ benefitting the Town Rec dept or something?
Did the Land Trust followup with the program? Shelli made a good point. If you need contact people on that let me know.
Maybe even the Town's "litter committee" would be interested in sponsoring one with a message of sorts on it?
The most important aspect that assume has been addressed is timely pickups of the recycling bins ... otherwise, it'll just create another mess.
Ginger

BILL GERLACH said...

Ginger,

I'm not sure where the Tiverton Recycling Committee is with this initiative and whether or not they've made their sponsorship quota. I like your ideas too.

I forwarded Shelli's comments to Steve Rys, chair of the committee, when I saw them, but have yet to hear back. You may want to reach out directly to their contact, Cheri Olf, at recycling@tiverton.ri.gov.

I'll see if I can get either of them to get on the blog and post something.

Unknown said...

The Tiverton Recycling Committee are using cyclemaxes at the Town Farm for the sporting events. We are still looking for more sponsors. If we can purchase enough of these cyclemaxes, we hope to be able to loan them out to different community groups for events. We will be showcasing the cyclemaxes at "A country Day at Pardon Gray"being held on September 29th.We invite anyone interested to stop by and visit with the recycling Committee for more information. - Steve Rys

Ginger said...

Hi Steve and Bill,
Thanks for the info. I'll be at PGday as well and will check it out then.
To Steve -- I would recommend touching base with the PTO president's of the various schools and get them to sponsor one. This would be an easy PTO message ... and not a big expense for them.
Ginger