STWOK News

This year my family has been doing our best to “go green.” Trying to do our part and not be as wasteful we took up recycling. Stillwater does not have recycling pick up. But they do offer local recycling facilities to take your paper, plastic, aluminum, and glass items to. You sort them yourself and put them in the appropriate  bin. Simple basic rules govern this area.

All materials must be sorted and placed inside bins. Mixed bags of material will be taken to the landfill…. Do not leave bags or loose materials on the ground.

However, as you can see in the photos above and below, all of these rules are being broken. Only #1 and #2 plastics are accepted. I don’t think lawn chairs are either. Metal lawn chairs also don’t qualify as tin or aluminum cans. Clearly there are some of us who are taking advantage of this site and using it as a free dump instead of disposing of these items properly. I’m guessing free and open sites like these attract those who do not pay there city trash bill and dump there trash here. Even though it’s illegal. Any law is pointless if it can’t be enforced. I would be curious to know if there has ever been any law enforcement watching for this illegal activity.

But beyond the abuse it seems the company responsible for managing this site, HEW Waste Recycling Inc., doesn’t seem to keep up with the demand by keeping these bins empty for us. The first time I came to the recycling center at the corner of Western Rd. and W 19th Ave. the bins were full but not over flowing. I was able to properly separate my recyclables and put them in their respective bins.

Today the recycling center was a complete dump. The bins were so full people were just putting their recyclables on the ground. The glass bin was not even there, so anyone with glass bottles just stacked them up. Trash had blown all over the area. It was such a shame. I had a car load of stuff to recycle. The only bins that were not overflowing were the aluminum and plastic bins. The cardboards bins were out of control. I decided to keep my broken down boxes in my trunk in hopes that these bins will be emptied soon.

In such a state of shock I pulled out the camera and took these photos hoping we can make a change. What’s the point of recycling if it’s just turning into litter?

I want to encourage a change.

• Please stick to the rules. Only bring stuff that qualifies for recycling.
• If the bins are full, don’t throw your stuff on the ground.
• If the bins are full call HEW, 405-377-3880 and let them know. Maybe this will encourage them to empty these more often.

These are all common sense rules that we as responsible adults have to follow ourselves and help others follow. Maybe some day the City of Stillwater can implement a curb recycling program but until then we need to do the best with what we got.