Athens Welcomes Mixed Recycling
One of the goals of the Athens-Hocking Zero Waste Action Plan has been reached! Citizens in the City of Athens can put all recyclables into one bin. This switch should increase recycling participation and volume, driving up recycling rates in Athens and Hocking Counties.
Athens-Hocking Recycling Center will still pick up recycling curbside weekly, but now in new packer trucks because separating is no longer necessary. Accepted materials include all newspaper, office paper, magazines, cardboard, all colors of glass bottles and jars, 1-7 plastic bottles and containers, plastic bags, steel cans, and aluminum cans.
If you are an Athens city resident, and do not already have a recycling receptacle, you may pick yours up at the City Building on E. Washington Street any time between 8am and 4pm, Monday through Friday.
For any questions or concerns, call the Athens-Hocking Recycling Center at (740) 594-5312 or visit athenshockingrecycle.org
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Bulldogs Stadium Recycling
As a new school year approaches, many are eager to spend Friday nights rooting for their team on the football field. Along with cheers and kettle corn, fans will also find new recycling bins at the Athens High School stadium.
Plastic bottles make up nearly half the trash generated at football games, and AHS now hopes to save 50% of the recyclables now going to the landfill. The high school has repurposed half their trash cans, relabeling them to instead collect recycling.
"This is a huge step in creating a district-wide environment of waste consciousness and is a great opportunity to educate students and community members about the importance of these values, and the impacts that can be seen when we collaborate to make positive changes," said Zero Waste AmeriCorps Member Heather Fuston, who has been working with Athens High School to initiate the new recycling system.
Key partners helping the Athens High School recycle include Rural Action, Athens-Hocking Solid Waste District (AHSWD) and the Athens-Hocking Recycling Center (AHRC).
"Our goal is to cut down on waste going to landfills, but also educate in the importance of recycling. I would like this to become a normal protocol, and hopefully visiting teams will see our recycling procedure and adopt this at their stadiums too. I feel the community will be pleased to see that we are trying to make this a cleaner environment for all," said Building and Grounds Supervisor at Athens High School, Marvin Lawrence.
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New Straitsville's Joe Maroon Named Volunteer of the Year
This year, Keep Southeast Ohio Beautiful recognizes the volunteer efforts of Joseph (Joe) Maroon for his work in keeping the Village of New Straitsville beautiful. Annually, the statewide award is presented to a volunteer who takes action in their communities to transform public spaces into beautiful places.
Joe h
as been highly a
ctive organizing
Keep America Beautiful events in h
is community, as well as leading the work of the Village of New
Straitsville
Clean and Beautiful Committee.
With the guidance of Joe, a partnership was formed with the Wayne National Forest to expand and amplify the message of Keep America Beautiful. Maroon has also organized cleanup events, renewed
the city's support of Ohio's Adopt-A-Highway Litter Program, and frequently offered his time to manage the Connie
Dunkle
Memorial Community Garden located on Main Street in New
Straitsville
.
"Keep Ohio Beautiful is very proud to have chosen Maroon for this award. He is a champion for his community," said Mike Mennett, Keep Ohio Beautiful Executive Director. "Statewide, he is one of many volunteers that are making a difference in their community."
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Ohio EPA Funds Improved Glass Recycling for Athens Bars
The Ohio EPA has granted money to supply uptown Athens restaurants and bars with bins, labels and training material to improve glass recycling in Athens. The City of Athens, the Athens-Hocking Solid Waste District, the Athens-Hocking Recycling Center and Rural Action all worked in collaboration to make this possible.
With this grant, all uptown bars will be provided with new containers and signs for collecting glass bottles and technical assistance to help set up a new or improved recycling system.
Grant money will also be used to purchase equipment for the Athens-Hocking Recycling Center to allow them to continue collecting glass as they switch to single stream recycling. The new equipment will ensure that recycled glass is properly cleaned. Without this equipment glass either would not be collected or would have to be collected separately. So this equipment is key to sustaining and increasing recycling rates.
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RA to Address One of Citizens' Greatest Concerns: Illegal Dumping
In partnership with Athens City-County Health Department, Hocking County Sheriff's Office and Athens-Hocking Solid Waste District, Rural Action received a grant to purchase four high-tech cameras and five standard trail cameras.
The cameras will be place
d on public lands to capture
illegal dumping
in Athens and Hocking Counties
.
With the evidence captured by these cameras,
illegal dumpers will be
more likely to be
prosecuted and charged. In counties where such programs have been instituted, illegal dumping has decreased significantly.
Decreasing illegal dumping was one of citizens' greatest concerns when creating the Athens Hocking Zero Waste Action Plan. With over 100 dump sites throughout Athens and Hocking Counties, the cameras will be an key tool for reducing dumping!
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Thank You to Our AmeriCorps Team!
Luke Black has been instrumental in growing the Zero Waste Pledge Program. In working with pledged businesses, he has reduced waste generated within their company by up to 50 percent.
He has also done excellent work helping to secure the 2014 Glass Grant, speaking with Athens bars personally to see how their needs can be met to initiate a new or improved glass recycling system.
Luke will be continuing his work with Rural Action through the end of 2015 to finish out the zero waste event season. "I was able to join the Zero Waste team at an exceptional time. On the ground work firmly put in place by the previous AmeriCorps, their trajectory helped me drive the program where it is today. I took what I knew and what I learned from research and great supervision then applied that to the concept of making recycling easy and effective in settings where it may be hard to implement such programs."
In
Heather Fuston's time with Rural Action,
she has organized and carried out over 40 educational programs working with children in grades K-12. She has been active in supporting the zero waste education and outreach committee and worked hard to
improve recycling at Athens City, Vinton County, and Nelsonville-York area schools. Thankfully, Heather will be continuing her work with Rural Action for another year as an AmeriCorps member.
"I am so grateful for the opportunity to work as an AmeriCorps member with Rural Action's Zero Waste Program. It has provided me with a unique platform to put my passion for the Earth to work in a meaningful way, and allows me to see the positive impacts I've made in my community every day."
Tyler Bonner has truly taken charge in growing the Zero Waste Program's zero waste events. In 2014 and 2015, Rural Action has serviced more festivals and events than years past. Tyler has successfully written a number of grants, including the 2015 Litter Management Grant listed above, as well as two others to implement more litter clean-ups and collect cigarette butts at our zero waste events. Enthusiastic about seeing through the end of the event season, Tyler will stay on with Rural Action until the end of the year. "Working with Rural Action's Zero Waste Program through AmeriCorps has been great! The work I do is extremely gratifying because I can see the difference that I make, not only in the areas we help clean up, but also in the perspectives of the volunteers who help out."
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Rural Action to Host Conference
Rural Action's Zero Waste Program is honored to be chosen to host next year's OALPRP Conference. The conference will be held on June 15th-17th, 2016 at the Ohio University Inn and Conference Center in Athens. The event will welcome all those Ohioans who have made great strides to increase recycling rates across the state. For more information about OALPRP, visit
oalprp.org
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Slideshow Of Partners' Work
We want to share your story, too!
Email us photos of the good work you are doing to lead Southeast Ohio towards zero waste!
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Upcoming Partner Events & Recycling Opportunities:
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September 4th & 5th
Fashion Meets Music Festival
Arena District, Columbus
ZW Festival Opportunity
Volunteers Needed
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September 10th-13th
Pawpaw Festival
Lake Snowden, Albany
ZW Festival Opportunity
Volunteers Needed
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September 19th
Ultimate Recycling Day
New Lexington Kroger Parking Lot
9am-Noon
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September 24th
New Belgium Beer, Clips & Film Tour
High Street, Columbus
ZW Festival Opportunity
Volunteers Needed
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September 26th
Country Night Lights
The Venue of Athens
ZW Festival Opportunity
Volunteers Needed
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October 10th
Zero Waste Action Plan Celebration
Robbins Crossing, Nelsonville
5-9pm
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October 12th
Athens-Hocking Solid Waste District Board Meeting
SEORJ, Nelsonville
8:30am
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October 17th
Athens Recycle & Shred Day
9009 Sand Ridge Road
8am-Noon
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October 17th
Hocking Recycle & Shred Day
33845 Sutton Road
8am-Noon
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Rural Action Zero Waste Program Staff:
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Rural Action Zero Waste Program Sponsors:
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Learn more about how we support
National Service.
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Learn about volunteering
with us.
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Want to get in touch? Contact us.
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