The Old Year is traditionally shown as a thin, bent over elderly man in comparison to the baby New Year. Well, along with a white beard reaching his knees, 2022 wore a parka and toted a snow shovel the last weeks of his life.
My latest Keep Alliance Beautiful column comes during the Twelve Days of Christmas. I typed it last year . . . you read it this year. Autumn ended and winter began bringing our town a foot of snow, winds over 50 miles an hour and temperatures half that – below zero. Obviously, a blizzard and Arctic blast slowed down the pre-Christmas pace significantly. Alliance Public Schools called off classes four days in a row the week before break. A number of local businesses closed at least a day or few. Residents stayed at home and dug out. The recycling center was no different – off work for the same days as the kids, then back to it the next week when the mercury plunged.
Compared to larger, automated recycling collection and processing systems, KAB lags a little more in the face of exceptional weather conditions. Our not-for-profit operation, however, has the same need to get materials into the facility first and foremost. Slick and drifting roads prevented my co-workers in the country from driving into town even as crews plowed streets and strived to open rural routes. Our dozens of white, cube containers were blanketed and froze to the ground. Then, it took a while to clear the outside of the center and along the trailers. Highs in the teens (on the warm days) the next week just made gaining ground that much more challenging.
Most recyclers KAB serves understand the nature of the beast. After this past Monday off for New Year’s, there is still some catching up necessary, though. We appreciate the community’s patience. People have been great these past weeks as we have also diverted manpower to relocate our downtown office to city hall.
I realize not everybody has the patience or space to store their recycling longer than they’re accustomed. Depending on the individual/entity or business in this situation, the cardboard (and everything else) either overflows the container at the site, fills an additional inside space (if we’re fortunate), makes its way to our front door via their own vehicle before we get there or goes directly into the alley Dumpster.
Recycling is a choice to begin with, the same as the occasional quandary of how to handle excessive amounts. Communication greases the gears. The KAB morning shift spends most of their time collecting cardboard. I come to work mid-morning and am usually not privy to all of that day’s pickups. In the afternoon we field more “on demand” calls – locations that may not have been served that day and are full, places that contact us as needed and any miscellaneous requests. There are people that don’t call, opting to start throwing out cardboard when their bin is packed knowing we’ll come by eventually. I encourage anyone who needs their recycling taken care of to call the center (763-1410) or the office (762-1729) and you’ll be on the short/ASAP list.
During the first days of 2022, my goal for our organization was to “gain weight” concerning recycling volumes. Now, I encourage everyone to pass on feeding the landfill a snack when it is more convenient. That guy never misses a meal from his all you can eat buffet anyway.