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Green is a good color for Northglenn

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Contributed by: Celeste Flores on 1/11/2008

Green is a Good Color for Northglenn

Recycling efforts are gaining ground in national trends

Green: it's the new buzz word. Everywhere you turn, people are looking for ways to realize the environmental and fiscal benefits of "green living."

For years, the benefits of recycling have been minimized because of the recycling process itself. Plastics, paper, glass, and metals all needed to be put into separate containers-and sometimes green and brown glass had to be separated from clear glass, cardboard couldn't be placed with newspapers, and aluminum cans could not be placed in the same containers as tin or steel. It simply wasn't feasible for people to keep as many as five different trashcans around the house for each recyclable material. Efforts to encourage recycling fell, largely, on deaf ears.

Much of that changed with the advent of single-stream recycling. The added convenience of being able to put all recyclable materials into one container has made recycling much more attractive as a "green" option. While Northglenn does not have true single-stream recycling, changes in the recycling process have made it much more feasible for cities to provide their residents with recycling options
Here in Northglenn, there are two recycling centers: one located at Northwest Open Space, behind the Water Treatment Plant, and the other is at City Hall (11701 Community Center Dr.), in the southwest parking lot.

Terrie Pineda, Administrative Supervisor, points out that Northglenn's recycling centers have separate containers for newspapers and comingle. Comingle is the combination of aluminum and steel cans; all clear plastics, along with plastics labeled #1 and #2; and glass bottles and jars.

From January through November, residents have recycled 248 tons of newspapers and 115 tons of comingle. Revenue generated from the recycling centers goes toward keeping trash service rates low for Northglenn residents. Through October, that revenue was $13,227.20.

"But the recycling centers aren't the only option residents have for recycling," said Pineda. "They can also schedule a special pick up of other items including motor oil, appliances, tires and batteries." Over 84 tons of metal items have been recycled from this program.

One of the primary benefits of recycling is a reduction in the tonnage of refuse sent to the landfills. Pineda adds that Northglenn trash trucks are weighed each time they go to the landfill and charged according to the weight. Eliminating 477 tons of materials, which includes 30 tons of recycled phone books, from the amount of waste taken to the landfill is good for the environment, and good for the bottom line.

Making things we use, and throw away everyday, from recycled materials cuts down on the use of virgin resources and reduces the amount of pollution created in production processes.

To find out more about the City's recycling options, or to schedule a special pick up, contact Solid Waste at 303-450-4004.

Celeste Flores is the public communications manager for the City of Northglenn.

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John Eisel

Denver , COLORADO

John Eisel has posted 2865 stories and 12 comments since joining on 9/14/2005. John Eisel's average story rating is 4.39.

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