Published: April 29, 2006 09:38 pm      

April was a month of cleaning up, recycling

Trash dumping problem at 4-H Fairgrounds addressed.

By Dick Hettinger

Guest columnist



Two R-Days, a Tire Amnesty event, River Bank Cleanup and Earth Day are behind us now ... but so is April. There was not a lot of time to smell the flowers of spring, but all of those who helped with any of these projects can take satisfaction in knowing that when April rolls around next year, the local landscape will be, pardon the pun, April Fresh!

Cass County third-graders and their helpers managed to get 3,722 pounds of plastic bags out of circulation by the time their Earth Day event rolled around on April 21. Rex Wolf of Indiana Recycling in Wolcott thought enough of their efforts that he donated a semi to transport the plastic that will be recycled into material for outdoor decking. The semi was nearly full by the time the Earth Day Committee volunteers were done emptying the Rabbit and Poultry Barn at the Cass County 4-H Fairgrounds. The Fair Board graciously donated use of the building for several months.

Pioneer Elementary School had the highest plastic total this year at 1,637 pounds. They won a beautiful bench made out of recycled plastic that was donated by the Cass County Solid Waste District. However, the main purpose was not the prize, but to teach the youth the importance of recycling.

On Saturday, April 15, 10 semi trailers were loaded with used tires. These will be used in various forms, including landfill cover, blasting mats and playground cover. This event would not have been possible without the help of many people. Kauffman Engineering gave us free use of their lot as our main staging area. We also placed trailers at the Logansport Street Department, Galveston Waste Water Treatment Plant and the Cass County Highway Garage. We had help on site on T-Day from employees of the Logansport Street Department, Cass/Pulaski Community Corrections and REACT. While all of this was going on, there were volunteers from various sectors working with the DNR and Cass County Parks Department to take tires and other refuse from the banks of the Wabash River. It is so easy to dump this stuff; much harder to clean up after the violator has left the scene.

Speaking of violators, most of the visitors to Tire Amnesty Day were legitimate users, but we believe that some business owners took advantage of the situation even though we advertise that we can’t accept tires from business or industry. Look for some possible modifications next year that will allow us to pinpoint abuses.

I would like to call attention to a problem we are having at the Clay Township roll-off container at the 4-H Fairgrounds. A few people seem to be using that site as a means of getting rid of their trash. I’ve found items such as plate glass, various types of metal stripping, Styrofoam and dirty glassware in the roll-off. Be aware that when this happens, the entire container may be emptied as regular trash instead of recyclables. We do accept rinsed out glass and cans made from steel, bi-metal, aluminum and tin. We also take your number one and two plastic containers if they are clean, and various types of paper. A lot of people don’t seem to realize that we will take magazines and old phone books, catalogs and junk mail in the paper stream.

There is one more housekeeping note that I need to pass along for those of you who frequent the roll-off at the Tall Sycamore Campground. The new owners of that property want to move the recycling container just behind the wooden fence there to improve the appearance of the property. The bin will be located just a few feet away from where it is now, but it won’t be visible from the road as it has been in the past. We are glad to cooperate with the new owners in this regard, and we also wish them the very best with their new venture.

The main purpose of this column is to educate the public about the programs that the district is offering. It is great when I can pass along positive results of events such as the tire collection and the magnificent efforts of our youth to recycle plastic. I hope we can build on these examples by getting more people to do the right thing.

Dick Hettinger is the director of the Cass County Solid Waste District.