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Recycling, education reduces landfill trash
By Michael Johnson
This document was published online on Wednesday, January 02, 2008
The county made big strides in 2007 after public complaints about litter blowing from the county landfill across the Meeteetse Highway into the nearby Sage Creek area.
The trash covered a two-square mile zone east of the landfill.
Now only a few - if any - pieces of litter can be seen tumbling across the landscape.
The major sticking points last year were plastic bags that dotted the countryside and became tangled in ground cover.
In winter, snow covered the problem. But once the spring thaw melted snow, the ugly white plastic revealed itself for all to see, according to county solid waste director Dave Hoffert.
To determine the success of the cleanup, Hoffert said the real comparison will be to see how much trash dots the Cody landscape in April.
“Last year we had a particularly bad spell of wind through February and March,” he said. “It was an incredibly open spring. There is litter out there, but it’s covered by snow. The real test for me is to see what’s there in April.”
“They’ve got some challenges,” said BLM Realty Specialist Duane Feick. “If the wind comes up or is strong, it sucks the empty bags out of there like a parachute.”
Hoffert said many changes have been made to limit the amount of trash blowing out of the landfill, including more fences that catch debris. Hoffert said trash haulers also have been more diligent by covering their loads with a tarp so trash doesn’t fall out of trucks and trailers before reaching the landfill.
Hoffert said people taking the time to bag and tie trash also has helped.
“We always had some type of routine cleanup. It was elevated with all the publicity and people took an interest,” he said. “It was a major step in making Cody people aware of how they dispose of trash.
“I had people tell me they never realized how they got rid of their trash,” Hoffert added. “Now they are doing those things differently.”
“They’ve done a really good job on cleaning it up,” Feick adds.
Businesses in Cody also have helped. Some offer cloth bags instead of automatically providing plastic bags for their customers.
Albertsons manager Randy Titmus said 30-40 percent of their customers now are re-using bags.
“That means I’m not giving them a new plastic bag,” he said, resulting in fewer plastic bags in circulation.
Titmus began tracking how many plastic bags the store was using last May. If a customer returns a bag to the store, Titmus gives them five cents.
“Before we started the push, about 25 people per week would bring bags back to reuse,” he said. “Since we started the program, I have 625-750 returns per week.”
Albertsons also sells cloth bags. Titmus said the new bags are gaining in popularity.
“We’ve reduced the number of plastic bags we buy 30-40 percent,” he said. “I just don’t buy them anymore.”
Since May, Titmus said he estimates about 20,000 bags have been diverted from going to the landfill.
John Dickson, manager of Wal-Mart in Cody, said his store is also trying to reduce trash at the landfill and recycles plastic by placing it inside of cardboard bales.
The store also has a program for schools that donate large bags of plastic for recycling.
“For every large trash bag of plastic a school brings to us, we give them $5,” Dickson said. “At end of the year, the school that brings in the most plastic wins a prize.”
“We eventually want to also get people to bring plastic bottles and aluminum pop cans for recycling,” Dickson said.
“I love to hunt and fish,” Titmus added. “I’ve been fishing and have seen bags stuck on sage brush and on deer antlers. I never thought we would have the kind of impact we’ve had.
“But it’s not me - it’s the people who are using cloth bags and returning the plastic bags. Cody people are getting behind it and doing well with it.”
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Codyite wrote on Jan 3, 2008 12:43 PM:
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