This new recycling bin, located at Wylie Park, is one of seven throughout town to encourage those in the high-use sports parks to recycle their water and pop bottles. photo by Blair Braitenbach |
By Blair Braitenbach
Staff reporter
The Town of Okotoks and the Alberta Beverage Container Recycling Corporation (ABCRC) have teamed up under the Community Champions Program to reduce the amount of garbage going to the landfill while keeping the community clean.
Seven new 4x6 feet bottle-recycling bins, located at high-use sports fields within town, were supplied by the ABCRC to collect recyclable bottles that will be sent to the Okotoks Bottle Depot.
Crista Michailuck, Open Spaces coordinator with the Town, said the strategic placement of the recycling bins should contribute to a major reduction in waste.
“We decided to place them (in the sports fields) thinking those users will probably have the most beverage containers that need recycling,” Michailuck said. “In the past they’ve often left their beverage containers in bags separately from the garbage anyway, so it’s kind of a good fit.”
The recycling initiative is a one-year pilot project in which the Town will report to the ABCRC how much they are collecting. Currently, Open Spaces staff are maintaining the bins, however, once the program is fully established the Town intends to let local not-for-profit organizations take over the responsibility on a rotational basis. Groups that monitor the bins will then be able to keep the refunds received from the recycled products.
“It’s kind of a win-win situation for us,” Michailuck said. “We get the recycling happening and other groups are benefiting from it and it’s not posing a lot of extra maintenance for our staff.”
The provincial government sponsors the ABCRC to encourage the recycling of beverage containers. ABCRC noted in a press release that Okotoks was a natural choice for the pilot project as the town is gaining notoriety for its environmental initiatives – by both the municipal government and residents.
“(This) is just another excellent example of how we can all work together to protect the environment and provide some financial benefit for communities,” ABCRC president Guy West said in a prepared statement.
Okotoks Mayor Bill McAlpine added he is proud to be involved with the initiative.
“(It) links nicely to Okotoks’ sustainable community vision,” McAlpine said in a prepared statement. “It is perfect timing for this project, as a recent survey (from 2007) suggested 79 per cent of residents supported having recycling bins in parks and sports fields.”
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