Rolling Meadows goes green with recycling
They've been hard to miss, the big green recycling carts dotting the curbs this week in Rolling Meadows.
Carts have arrived at each house and signal the start of the city's new recycling program. After a year of testing in three neighborhoods, the program is going citywide.
"They're not as cumbersome as they look," Reid Bateman, assistant director of public works, says about the 65-gallon carts. He believes residents will find them handy. They'll also encourage more recycling, he adds, which is healthy for the environment and for the city's budget.
A new contract with Groot Industries allows Rolling Meadows to receive some revenue back for recycled materials. "That in turn can lead to lower refuse costs," Bateman said.
Still, residents started paying 71 cents more per month in January for the program.
My family's own cart landed on our driveway Wednesday. It wheeled easily back to the garage and takes up just a little more space to store than the yellow bin. The lid will keep litter from blowing into yards.
The program was piloted for a year beginning May 2006 by about 10 percent of city households in three neighborhoods: along Owl Drive, in Waverly Park and in the area east of Quentin Road.
Residents were surveyed before and after the test period. "Almost 90 percent thought it was a great success," Bateman said.
However, some residents said a smaller cart would be easier to handle. The city will replace any cart with a 32-gallon size if residents call the city after June 1.
Groot will not pick up materials outside the cart, with the exception of larger pieces of cardboard, which can be stacked next to the cart.
About half the towns in the Northwest suburbs have started using carts, Bateman says. "It's proven to increase the amount of material recycled," he added.
The city won't be collecting the old 18-gallon yellow bins, but they are recyclable -- and they'll fit nicely inside the new green carts.
Now the question is what to do with the old 18-gallon bins. Perhaps a planter for the deck? Or a place for outdoor toys? If you have any clever ideas, send them to me and I'll publish them in a future column.
Gone from view will be the round blue stickers still found on some older bins, a mark of the battle the city decided not to fight years ago when the logo containing a religious symbol was challenged.
If you've got a blue-dotted bin, "You ought to hang on to that, it's a collector's item," Bateman joked.
Also on the subject of waste removal, this week marks the end of early refuse setout. By city ordinance, from now until Nov. 2 you'll need to wait until 6 p.m. to place garbage at the curb.