Download curbside recycling can be a win-win-win

CURBSIDE RECYCLING CAN BE A WIN-WIN-WIN
When the Village of Crete negotiated our recent new contract for municipal household waste
(MHW or garbage as we tend to call it) removal, we wanted to explore offering curbside
recycling to our residents. The primary driver for this is to reduce the cost of landfilling MHW
by reducing the overall volume that was being sent to the dump. Remember, it costs money to
take our garbage to the landfill and dump it, and that cost is included in the bill you pay.
Driving our streets on garbage day, it was easy to see that the vast majority of residents were
not recycling anything and those that did were taking it to the Lions Recycle Center next to the
Public Works Building on Douglas Lane. Taking it to the Lions facility takes time and effort and a
conscious effort by the resident to reduce their waste stream and at the same time help a very
worthy local organization that puts most of their efforts into helping our community in a variety
of ways. Those of you that are currently taking recycled material to the Lions, we encourage
you to continue to do that and sincerely thank you for your continuing efforts.
The Village’s efforts were really to concentrate on those residents that currently do no recycling
whatsoever, and provide an easy and understandable way to reduce their waste stream going
to the landfill. At the same time, the Village was lucky to be able to negotiate a lower monthly
charge for all of our garbage services, including recycled products. In addition, we made
provisions in the contract to have the waste hauler, Allied/Republic Services, return some of the
money they receive by selling the recycled material back to the community.
So at the end of the day, if we all get behind this agenda we can accomplish much more.
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Reduce our overall cost of garbage disposal by reducing the amount of MHW we take to
the landfill which will convert to a lower monthly cost for everyone.
Continue to support our local recycle efforts by taking your recycled material to the
Lions Recycle Center. Remember, they have been providing this service to the
community and we have supported them for 75 years.
And, for those who have yet to recycle, get into the mindset of using the new free
recycle container and help the environment, the community and your pocketbook by
recycling as much as possible. It is designed to be quick and easy since all qualified
recycled material can all be placed into one container. There is no need to separate
anything. Just fill it up and every other week it will be picked up separately from your
garbage on your normal collection day.
Crete has a long history of pitching in and by working together we can make this a WIN-WINWIN for everyone and our environment.