An hour or so north of Interstate 80 the needle hit “E”. “Where are we at?,” Todd asked his wife. “I forgot to fill up at the exit.” “Oh,” she said, leafing through a worn atlas. “Looks like the next town is about 15 miles ahead.” Not quite running on fumes yet, the pumpkin orange bug pulled up to a free pump. Rinsed latte cups and a brown fast food bag tumbled out as Susan opened her door. “I thought you were going to recycle everything in Cheyenne this morning,” she said as he wiped the windshield. “Nah, we’ll grab a quick bite downtown here and find a bin,” he assured her. Finished with lunch and ready to head north to the Black Hills, the couple from Sonoma drove down the brick-lined main street finding only trash cans. They agreed to top off one of the receptacles with the collection from two days on the road wondering why the little town didn’t recycle.
“If you give people a choice of where to put their recyclables, they’ll do the right thing,” Keep Alliance Beautiful Executive Director Kathy Worley said while discussing recycling in downtown Alliance.
In fact, recycling thrives in the A1 Business Improvement District (roughly a block on either side of Box Butte from First to Sixth Streets and Third Street between Cheyenne and Sweetwater) with nearly two dozen business and other entities where we pick up or who come by the center regularly. Ten of our white cube containers also serve specific buildings and businesses downtown. Unfortunately, no recycling bins accompany the custom brown trash cans in the district. The City of Alliance itself, which recycles at the Municipal Building and elsewhere, should make that option available. Talking to City Manager Seth Sorensen recently I came away with the impression that public demand for such a service would go a long way to making it a reality.
The process “would go through me,” he said, adding they would have to find some bins that would match the design of the current trash receptacles in some way. Then he would work with Shana Brown, Cultural and Leisure Services director, to coordinate locations.
KAB’s emphasis on litter prevention and beautification and development, however, is shared by the City and those within the downtown districts. Several years ago grants paid to redo landscaping and lighting. As part of the BID, the City provides trash and snow removal. Sorensen said one of the first things he noticed was the decorative flower-style ashtrays that KAB obtained.
Expanding recycling from the alleys to the sidewalks would promote a “clean, green” image of Alliance, which “(We) probably need to do a better job than we do,” he said. “People don’t know how much recycling helps keep out of our landfill until they do it. The last community I came from didn’t have it (recycling).”
Worley recalled presenting the idea of recycling bins at a downtown board meeting about four or five years ago. Though the members tabled the suggestion then, she still hopes it will be embraced by the City. Worley said KAB would offer to be responsible for servicing the containers and getting the word out. A great opportunity for cooperation, I would say, especially since our office is located in the A2 district.
“If that’s something you feel strongly about, let your city officials know,” Worley encouraged. “We hear about the lack of recycling downtown. All complaints and comments come our way. . . . When we spend our efforts educating the schools and public in general, should give them options where they live.”