Recycling revived in Flint

Many traditional city programs to make our city more livable do not get a lot of attention at City Hall because the administration is scrambling to balance a budget and keep as many public safety personnel on the job as possible. To augment sagging city services, neighborhood groups have started crime watches enhanced with electronic alert systems and volunteered to help maintain the parks. Now the groups are leading in the rebirth of recycling.

More than four years ago the Genesee County Metropolitan Planning Commission (GCMPC) bought a recycling trailer for large events like the Crim Festival of Races and Back to the Bricks. That was the extent of recycling in Flint then. The funds to buy the trailers came from the county that levies a fee on solid waste dumped in Genesee County landfills for recycling. GCMPC gets five cents per ton for recycling programs.

Today, three neighborhood associations — the College Cultural Neighborhood Association, the Potter Longway Neighborhood Association and the South Park Neighborhood Association — have started their own recycling programs using the county's trailer with help from CBC Recycling.

According to Nate Scramlin, associate planner with GCMPC, "The trailer began as an event-based service. But as the demand for recycling options has grown, city neighborhoods, where curbside recycling is not available, are jumping on board to take advantage of this free, ecological-friendly opportunity."

"We've arranged with CBC to deliver the trailer at no cost to the neighborhood sites. Our efforts are gaining steam, but we may find ourselves stretched thin when the Crim conflicts with the monthly neighborhood recycling schedules. Ideally, we would like to have the city pick up recyclables at the curb," Scramlin said.

Nichole Windle of CBC Recycling is optimistic about recycling's future in Flint.

"With the help of people like Barbara Griffith-Wilson, we are demonstrating that residents of the city will chose to recycle if given the opportunity," Windle said. "Today, Flint is getting 'greener.'"

Griffith-Wilson, a community advocate and member of the South Park Neighborhood Association, started the recycle ball rolling.

"I wrote a proposal to the city in December 2010, met with the mayor and Steve Montel, his "green czar," and asked permission to have the county recycling trailer park on city property at the Brennan Center. I also met with block clubs in the area to explain that the trailer would be there on the third Friday of every month and explained the kinds of things to bring. We collected more than two tons of recyclables," Griffith-Wilson said.

Sherry Hayden, president of the College Cultural group, credits Potter Longway president, Rob Gill, for helping her group start.

In May, Gill's group scheduled the trailer for their annual Longway Park cleanup. It was such a success that Gill arranged for the recycling trailer to continue to be set up for one weekend each month in the parking lot of Longway Park on Whittier Avenue at Starkweather Street.

"More than 10 years ago we tried to get curbside recycling here but he managed to get a solution that works — the mobile trailer. After we saw what he was doing, we did the groundwork to make it happen in the College Cultural neighborhood," Hayden said.

The College Cultural group scheduled its first recycling effort in June.

"The mobile recycling trailer made its debut in the rear parking lot of Woodside Church. Based on participation, it was a huge success. The recycling trailer was filled to capacity," said Hayden.

"The more we collect the greater the likelihood the county will buy more trailers. That could mean a trailer would be in our neighborhood more often. Nikki Windle at CBC said our first try topped the list for the most collected in a weekend," said Hayden.

Acceptable recyclables include paper (newspapers, office paper, magazines, junk mail, paperback books and phone books), cardboard (corrugated or rolled only, no smooth boxes), cans (tin or aluminum) and plastic bottles (No. 1 and No. 2 only, see bottom number in the triangle symbol).

The College Cultural group collects materials at Woodside Church July 2 and July 3, Aug. 6 and Aug. 7, Sept. 3 to Sept. 11, Oct. 5 to Oct. 12, Nov. 5 to Nov. 13 and Dec. 3 to Dec. 11.

Potter Longway neighborhood group collects recyclables at Longway Park July 29 to Aug. 1, Aug. 26 to Aug. 30 and Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.

Windel said she doesn't anticipate any interruption in the neighborhood schedules when city events coincide.

"We're discussing using other trailer options if the county's trailer is being used for an event," Windle said. "The neighborhoods want this to happen and we're going to help them," she said.

–––––––––––––––––––––­

Your comments are welcome. E-mail them to the editor at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .