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REDUCING, RE-USING, RECYCLING: Residents Participate in Multiple Recycling Events

By September 19, 2014Uncategorized

By Rosanne Boyett | Cibola Beacon

GRANTS – Numerous people demonstrated their interest in practicing the three Rs – reduce, reuse, and recycle.
Grants MainStreet Project, Recycle Cibola, and Keep Cibola County Beautiful hosted an indoor yard sale, Fall Clean Fling, at the Cibola County Complex on Saturday, Sept. 13.
Shoppers spent time browsing the 12 tables and seemed pleased with the variety of items for sale.
“It went really well and we made a few dollars,” recalled two sisters-in-law who shared a table. “I was able to sell a lot of things that we don’t need any more,” explained one of the women. “Now we have a little more space at home.”
MainStreet offered non-profit groups free tables. Two organizations, Recycle Cibola and Conservation Voters New Mexico (CVNM), reserved tables and volunteers visited with shoppers throughout the day.
Members of the recycling group provided information about the countywide program
“We gave away bright green shopping bags that feature our logo,” recalled one Recycle volunteer who acknowledged that people were using the bags to carry their purchases as they checked out items at various booths. “More than 20 people signed the petition to demonstrate their support of expanding the recycling program to include curbside pickup.”
At a nearby table Talia Boyd, CVNM western New Mexico staff member, offered information designed to help residents understand current threats to natural resources.
Boyd described an Oct. 2 film screening at Future Foundations Family Center, “We have hosted showings in Gallup and Pueblo of Acoma. ‘Uranium Drive-In’ is a great film about how mining affects rural communities. It shows both sides of the story.”
There was another aspect to Saturday’s event.
At the drop-off bins near Fire and Ice Park, Santa Fe Avenue, E-Cycle New Mexico and Recycle volunteers offered residents an opportunity to dispose of items, including electronic waste.
“People were asking at the yard sale about where to recycle their old electronics,” said one volunteer.
“E-Cycle, which has the contract with the regional Solid Waste Authority for disposing of e-waste, was really busy,” according to Jenn Cutillo who volunteered at the downtown bins. She described the dozens of items, which included monitors and related computer equipment,  that filled the back of the pickup truck.
Several people said that Saturday morning’s fatal accident on Santa Fe Avenue resulted in the closure of streets, which prevented residents’ access to the drop-off bins and E-Cycle’s collection services.
MainStreet and Recycle Cibola officials said they were pleased with the turnout on Sept. 13 and plan to hold another similar event in the future.