EcoEKY: Green News from Eastern Kentucky

from WYMT News:

24 Hour Recycling Center

Reporter: Matt Barbour
Email Address: matt.barbour@wymtnews.com

The city of London and Laurel County now has a new 24 hour recycling center.

The public works director says it will save the city thousands of dollars.

People using the new recycling center in Laurel County say it's easy and convenient.

“It's just one of them things if I don't I have to pay for the garbage truck when I can bring it here on the trip to town,” Bennie Smith said.

The city of London opened the new regional recycling center Monday and the city's public works director says it's a big improvement from the county's old center.

“It can only help them, with the roadside litter and with the way they had to process it, it was labor intensive,” Steve Edge said.

Edge says in the first year alone he expects the facility to process about 3,600 tons of material that would normally be going to a landfill and that will save the city about $75,000.

Robby Blair is the center's supervisor and says everyone should make an effort to recycle.

“What happens, ten years from now? You know, there's not going to be many landfills left,” Blair said.

He says they've designed this center to be more user friendly.

The old one had dispensers that were much higher off the ground.

Just ask Zelma Rice, “Well, if you've got a bag of papers, they're heavy. They get heavy. and it's harder for older people especially, or short people to reach up and put those in there.”

She says hopefully the convenience will encourage others to make a difference in their community.

Blair says curbside recycling service could be provided within the next two years.

from the London Sentinel-Echo:

City may take over recycling

By Tara Kaprowy
Staff Writer

Published: April 03, 2008 10:05 pm

Laurel County’s recycling center is facing major changes, ones that would greatly expand the program and put it in the hands of the city.

The city and county are jointly applying for a grant in the amount of more than $300,000. That money would be used to buy recycling equipment — a compacter, can densifier, glass pulverizer, shredder — that would make the program far less labor intensive.

London Public Works Director Steve Edge would be at the helm of the program. He is passionate about recycling and improving the system.

“This is something that’s good to do and in the future it’s something we’re going to need to do,” he said.

Edge has big goals for the program.

“We’re shooting for a 20 to 25 percent reduction of what people bring to the landfill in the first year,” he said.

Edge’s ultimate goal is to cut the amount of trash that goes to the landfill by 75 percent.

“My long-term goal is to recycle anything that can be recycled,” he said. “It can happen. It’s already being done in other cities.”

Edge also sees curbside recycling — meaning it would be picked up at people’s homes — in London’s future.

“Within three to five years, you’ll see curbside recycling in London,” he said.

If the grant is awarded, the recycling center will be moved from its McWhorter Street location to the transfer station on KY 192 near TLC Lane. In terms of expanding the program, Edge would eventually like to be able to recycle electronics, such as computers and TVs, as well as batteries and paint.

Edge also plans to get Laurel County schools recycling, and have trailers parked on-site.

Under the terms of the agreement, the city would “do the recycling and offer recycling countywide,” Edge explained. The grant application had to be submitted to the Kentucky Division of Solid Waste April 1. Edge estimated he would hear if it had been awarded to Laurel County in 30 to 45 days.

Edge feels London and Laurel County have a good chance of getting the grant. He said the city and county applied for the grant separately last year and were both denied.

“We were denied because it wasn’t a joint venture,” he said.

Now the city and county are both on board, and Rockcastle County has agreed to bring their recyclables to Laurel County to have them processed.

Getting more counties on board is Edge’s goal.

“We’d like to make this a regional center,” he said. “We’ve talked to Clay and Jackson counties as well. We’re looking to help the region instead of just this immediate area.”



Staff writer Tara Kaprowy can be reached by e-mail at tkaprowy@sentinel-echo.com.

from the Corbin Times-Tribune:

Laurel Lake Cleanup scheduled for April 19

Published: April 03, 2008 09:54 am

Staff Report

The beach at Laurel River Dam will serve, yet again, as the staging area for this year’s annual Laurel Lake Cleanup.

This year’s event will be Saturday, April 19 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

In recent years the cleanup has drawn more than 500 volunteers and organizers are optimistic that even more people will turn out this year to show their concern for one of southeast Kentucky’s most important resources.

“It has been rewarding to watch the way this event has grown over the years,” said John Strojan of the USDA Forest Service, one of the sponsoring organizations. “This is a great opportunity for lake users to give something back to the resource, and we hope they will come out again this year.”

Residents of Laurel and Whitley Counties will again be competing for the coveted “Cleanup Cup”, which is awarded to the county with the most volunteers. Last year’s competition was won for the sixth year in a row by Laurel County. Prior to Laurel County’s winning streak, Whitley won the cup for two consecutive years.

The Cleanup is not all work and no play. Volunteers receive a free lunch, T-shirt and a chance to win donated door prizes. They can also enter an item for consideration as the “Catch-of-the-Day.” This prize goes to the volunteer who locates the most unusual piece of trash.

Volunteers will register at the beach on the day of the event, but they are encouraged to pre-register ahead of time in order to give organizers an idea of how many participants to plan for. Pre-registration forms are available from Holly Bay and Grove Marinas, as well as the U.S. Forest Service London District Office. You can also pre-register by calling the Forest Service at (606) 864-4163.

Boat owners are encouraged to come and support the effort. Volunteers who do not have a boat of their own can hitch a ride on one of several boats that will be shuttling participants out to sections of shoreline where trash is located. There will also be vans available to help move volunteers to some of the lake access roads that will need cleaning.

The Laurel Lake Cleanup is organized by the Friends of Laurel River Lake, a group formed to promote efforts to keep the lake a clean, and healthy natural resource. This group includes the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Laurel and Whitley County Governments, PRIDE, Senture, London-Laurel County Tourism Commission and others, including concerned citizens and businesses in the Whitley and Laurel County area.

Businesses and organizations wishing to make donations to the event can contact the London-Laurel County Tourism Commission at (606) 878-6900.