Three hundred homeowners deserve a pat on their "green" backs.
The environmentally conscious residents recycled more than 84 tons of waste last year, which saved 1,341 trees, 279 cubic feet of landfill space and 552,000 gallons of water.Too bad more of the city's 10,000 homeowners don't participate in the curbside recycling program that's responsible for the savings, says Mayor John Cushing.
"Just think if we had 10 percent participating instead of just 3 percent. Our community has to grasp that vision as the years go on."
The city first began the voluntary program on Earth Day 1992. For $4.50 a month, a waste disposal company will stop at homes every other week to pick up newspapers, magazines, aluminum and tin.
Besides returning kindness to the Earth, the program generates cash for beautification projects throughout the city. Since it began, more than $2,000 has been spent on trees and flower beds around the city's library.
The plan is just one of several options the city has provided in the past three years for residents concerned about the environment.
Seven large bins at the city's new shop accept plastics and glass in addition to the usual materials. The city also sponsors an annual hazardous-waste collection that last year disposed of more than 2,000 gallons of waste and 120 automobile batteries.
The collection day cost the city $23,000, but it was money well-spent since much of the waste could have ended up the city's landfill, said Bob Bruhn, assistant superintendent of sanitation.
Officials are pleased with resident response to the options and say more seem to be catching the green spirit. The bins at the city shops, for example, used to fill enough for pickup only once a week but now must be emptied twice a week.
"It's a mind-set, a discipline thing. There are a lot of people who have a sense of urgency about it, but more that don't," Cushing said.
He and his family recycle weekly, taking newspapers and magazines to the city bins.
The city also appears to be doing its part to improve environmental practices. It will build a composting machine at its landfill this year that will chunk limbs and branches into small chips that can be used to cover waste.