A group of community organizers including the Cities of Lansing and East Lansing, Ingham County, Delhi Charter Township, Peckham Industries, MSU Recycling and Michigan Energy Options and the Board of Water and Light have started a local recycling routine that is making a big impact. In September the third Recycle Rama event took place, collecting more than 85 tons of plastic, metal, appliances and electronic waste.
“It’s really difficult to say who really got it going,” says Sue Warren, Manager of Energy and Eco-strategies for the
Board of Water and Light. “The City Lansing and the City of East Lansing had been talking about a program like this for a long time. They just didn’t have the funding in place.
“It’s just amazing how many organizations ended up participating to make this happen.”
One of the items visitors were encourage to recycle were old dehumidifiers and air conditioning units. BWL customers received $15 vouchers toward the purchase of energy efficient replacements for each of these items dropped off. The 200 vouchers distributed this month were a part of the BWL’s Energy Optimization and Renewable Energy Program.
Fifteen hundred cars of recycling attended September’s Recycle Rama event. The first such event was held last fall, and another was held in the spring of this year. Warren anticipates the semi-annual schedule will continue.
“I think there will be an event in the spring,” she says. “As long as there enough people interested, I think they’re going to keep doing it.”
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