Planets jostled together, a bunch of blue, green and brown globes gathered by a cosmic force? Though reminiscent of Earth, these worlds were not discovered by the James Webb Space Telescope. I saw them last week on a desk in the Keep Alliance Beautiful office, crafted from paper mache with a slot at the top to collect spare change.
Each a different mix of sea and continents, the sports ball-size spheres had orbited at local schools for about the last month before summer vacation. Students showed their support for KAB by bringing coins from home. The worlds appeared as a fundraiser to engage youth shortly after a significant grant fell through.
Box Butte County students know about KAB through our educational activities, presentations and programs, such as Black Ops, as well as recycling in the schools. Accessing a piggy bank or the family change jar was a gesture of support. We appreciate the effort.
It is a question of value. How much would a person pay for a given service or resource? What should be expected for free? Discussion touched on these questions during the May 17 Keep Nebraska Beautiful Western Affiliate regional meeting at the Knight Museum and Sandhills Center.
A dozen people attended. In addition to Alliance, affiliates traveled from Sidney, Scottsbluff/Gering, Kimball, Chadron and Ogallala. Though not a specific agenda item, overall waste management and recycling challenges came up throughout the day. Comparing notes on the topics was beneficial because each affiliate has its own perspective and programs. Alliance, Kimball and Ogallala have independent and/or affiliate-operated recycling centers; the City operates curbside recycling in Scottsbluff and Chadron lacks a comprehensive recycling program, for example. Overall waste management varies too in these communities with some municipalities not hauling their own refuse or operating landfills. Alliance does both with a major private hauler in the mix as well.
An argument when offering recycling to the public was “If you give it to them for free, they expect it for free.” A counterpoint: if a person pays for a service, such as recycling, they will utilize it to get their money’s worth. The city of Alliance is currently considering the results of a survey sent with utility bills asking whether people would pay for recycling and how much.
Keep Alliance Beautiful values the community’s commitment and continues to embrace the free model overall. There is a balancing act between a resource that anyone can access, such as visiting the recycling center, and something specific they are willing to pay for, in our case curbside recycling.
What is the value of the people who actively help beautify our towns and countryside? For grant purposes, the in-kind per hour figure is $27.40. We count the hours of individuals and groups who register clean up events with us. At the Keep Nebraska Beautiful meeting there was some question as to why the volunteer figure is that high. Jason from Keep Sidney Beautiful said, “You’re asking people to give up their free time to do something that is your job, you get paid for.”
The best value comes in a commitment to be the change. A kindergartner with a fistful of pennies dropped into a globe or a passerby pulling a box from the middle of the street, both make a difference. Thank you.