Lynne Hart

Use it or lose it. That says it all.

The city has been looking at the costs and usage associated with curbside recycling.

The cost of curbside recycling is included in the city garbage pickup fee. There is no extra charge for the bin or curbside collection.

The answer to keeping this service available is for city residents to use it!

Newspaper, No. 1 and No. 2 plastic, aluminum and metal cans, junk mail, and magazines can be recycled at curbside. For a complete listing of items accepted at the center, call (256) 233-8000 or visit www.KeepAthensLimestoneBeautiful.com.

So how does using your green recycling bin help? The City of Athens pays a tipping fee for every ton of garbage going to a landfill.

Every ton recycled saves that tipping fee. This savings won’t equal the cost of the service, but it certainly would go a long way to defray expenses.

Also, the miles driven and fuel used to empty a garbage truck at the transfer station far exceed the short distance to the recycling center, which is right in town.

For the first seven months of this year, the curbside trucks picked up 300 tons of materials. The center processed a total of 3,000 tons of materials in the same period, which includes curbside, drop-off at the center, and county trailers.

Additionally, 6,000 gallons of used motor oil has been recycled. During the 2006-2007 fiscal year, 7,200 tons of garbage were picked up.

Easily, 30 percent of that garbage could have been recycled to save resources and $95,000 in tipping fees.

If curbside recycling is eliminated, a proposal has been made to place drop-off bins at various locations around town.

Will these be controlled so they don’t become illegal dumps? Who will keep them clean? This system also leaves out people who don’t drive or can’t transport their recyclables.

Avid recyclers would find it very difficult to toss a plastic bottle or this newspaper into a garbage can.

There is another group of people we will never reach with our message. Keep Athens-Limestone Beautiful is trying desperately to reach the segment of our community that doesn’t recycle simply because they don’t know how, haven’t had time to get a green bin, or thought there was a cost involved.

If you want to participate in curbside recycling, call us. We’ll make sure you get a bin. Invite us to your neighborhood and we’ll come with bins for everyone wishing to participate.

I challenge you to have the first street in the city with 100 percent curbside recycling participation! Just give us a call and we’ll work with you.

Don’t let this wonderful service go by the wayside. If it is taken away, I assure you it won’t return.

Every week you vote to keep or eliminate curbside recycling…..putting out your bin is a “yes” vote. Please vote yes to curbside recycling.