Public Works Day

Well, Greenville City's very first Public Works Day is officially over and ended. Did you come out and see what was going on at the Fair Grounds? If you weren't there, you missed out on some real educational opportunities! My children and husband especially enjoyed their tour of the city's Water Treatment plant. They also liked very much the big Doty Dump trucks that were on site. But most of all, my two lovely children were pretending to be Shaggy and Scoobie, and going straight to the food booth.

Here's a little run down of how my day went.

First, I arrived at 8:00am and set up my half of the Recycling booth. I quickly ran out of things to do and proceeded to read a book that I was glad I had brought with me. Then, what I can only imagine to be a bird, pooed on my book and phone. It was out of no where and very yellow. I didn't realize that bird poo could be yellow. A fine citizen informed me that it could be just about any color of whatever it had been eating. Like I said, educational.

Next, my friend and co-activist, Andrea, showed up with her half of the recycling display and the recycling toss game. It was a very slow morning and it rained a few times. We discovered that we had a leak in our pavilion. Luckily, we had access to the many jars I had brought as part of my Upcycling display, so we were prepared for the drippages. The jars also made great weights to put on our fliers so they didn't blow away.

Eventually, people did come out, and we got to have some very nice conversations with several Greenville citizens. We were able to pass along recycling tips and information on where to recycle during this time of crisis with our Doty bins. We also had several people sign our petition for curb side recycling. So far, everyone that signed, checked the yes box for their willingness to pay an extra $6 a month on their City bill if it meant curb side recycling.

Andrea's recycle toss game was a great educational tool, as she had planted about 4 or 5 "tricky" items that could not be recycled. Most of the participants failed at these items. I am proud to say that my daughter was one of the very few that knew to not recycle the brittle plastic spoon and fork that had no recycling triangle. Go Olivia!!

The highlight of the afternoon for me was getting to speak a little bit with one of our new City Council members. I was pleasantly surprised to hear of the interest that he has with recycling in the city, and was assured that the City does want to find a solution to our current recycling crisis here in Greenville.

Please stay positive even in these tough times. Change of this magnitude comes slowly and baby steps are required, but change will come. Keep in mind that quite often it is only after conflict that we find resolution.

Thanks to the City for inviting Andrea and I to participate in the Public Works day 2009. We got to hand out lots of literature, advertise for our Association meeting this Tues, 26th, 7:30pm at the courthouse (Shamelessly advertising again :') ), spread the word about the Doty dumpster being out of service for a while, eat free hotdogs, get a free t-shirt, listen to some cool 70s songs, and discover interesting, unknown facts about the digestive system of our local fowl. It was a great day, and I look forward to Greenville City's Public Works Day 2010.

YIKES and all that!

Well fair citizens of Greenville. . . Alas, our Doty Bin situation reached a critical point, and we have officially been banned from the Montgomery County Recycling Facility in Hillsboro, IL. The cause cited was that of contamination coupled with the sinking prices of recyclables. The facility could no longer pay their employees more time to sort through our contaminated bins. :(

I can't say that I blame them either. We've all seen the state of things down there and it isn't pretty! Clearly, education is a key factor in this recycling game, and we need to work harder at getting the word out about proper recycling.

Although this feels like yet another major blow to our efforts, it doesn't mean that you can quit! I don't want to hear anything about quitting, right? Right!

We must continue to recycle, because it's just the right thing to do. There are many other places that you can take your stuff depending on where you are headed. We all make trips around our county, and all you have to do is bring your stuff along.

Please check out my "where to recycle" link at the top of the page for all your recycling options. They are many.

In the meantime, lets roll up our sleeves and get to work. Come to our Greenville Recycling Association meeting on Tuesday, May 26, 7:30 pm at the Bond Co. Courthouse. We need to take advantage of this time of crisis and change and make the City Counsel aware that we want recycling and we want it bad! :')

Change and growth often come after crisis points. Don't give up and don't get frustrated, and if you do, turn it into change by taking action.

See you at the Courthouse!!!!