IT ALL COMES BACK TO YOU

By Ella Tyler

Texas Recycles Day, a campaign to educate Texans on the environmental and economic benefits of waste reduction and recycling, is Thursday, November 15. The campaign is managed by Recycling Alliance of Texas in partnership with Keep Texas Beautiful and its local chapters.

The slogan for this year’s campaign is “It all comes back to you”. According to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, on average, each Texan generates about seven pounds of garbage every day. Recycling paper, metal, plastic, and other materials, helps reduce waste, helps conserve energy, and preserves natural resources.

Keep Houston Beautiful is partnering with Abitibi-Consolidated and H-E-B to encourage Houstonians to recycle at one of the 28 area HEB stores that has recycle bins for plastic, paper, aluminum, and metal. Some H-E-B stores in Pasadena, Alvin, Missouri City, Deer Park, Spring, Tomball, Kingwood and suburban Houston have the bins. A list of those stores and a map is online

The H-E-B/Abitibi partnership began in October. Abitibi-Consolidated, a Canadian firm, is among the largest recyclers of newspapers and magazines in North America, diverting approximately 2 million tons of paper from landfills each year. It operates in 70 countries. To Houstonians, it is best known as the company that puts the big yellow and green “Paper Retriever” bins in school, church and library parking lots. In 2006, Abitibi contributed more than $4 million to schools, churches, and not-for-profit organizations for their paper recovery efforts.

Abitibi also collects and sorts curbside recycling for the city of Houston. The bins at H-E-B stores are to reach people who don’t have access to neighborhood recycling. Abitibi vice president Sylvain Longval says the company did a study of residents’ recycling habits.

“What’s preventing people from recycling a lot of times is the availability of a way to do it easy, every day during the time they do their daily routines. So when the offer came over from H-E-B to look at doing something with recycling at their stores, it just made a whole lot of sense,” he said.

In Pearland, Texas Recycles Day will be celebrated early, on Saturday, November 10, at the Pearland Recycling Center, 3423 Harkey Rd, from 8 am to 1 pm. At this event, almost everything except the kitchen sink will be accepted. In addition to the usual – plastic #1 and #2, paper, and cans; the center will accept cartridges for printers, faxes and copiers; cell phones; rechargeable cell phone batteries and accessories; scrap metal; large appliances; all colors of glass; and electronics.

On Saturday, the Pearland Recycling center will also collect and pass along gently used books, eyeglasses, and used or new pet supplies, and will also collect items for the Salvation Army. Volunteers will help unload your car. For more call Keep Pearland Beautiful at (281) 652-1659.

Baytown Recycles Day is also Saturday, November 10. The event will be from 9 am to 3 pm at Lowe’s on Garth Road. Items are accepted only from individuals and include newspapers and magazines, tires, batteries, car batteries, oil, filters and antifreeze. Volunteers will assist people with removing the recyclables from their cars. Baytown will have curbside recycling early next year. For more information, call (281) 420-5384 or visit Baytown’s website.

Cy-Fair College will kick-off its campus recycling program on Thursday, November 15 at 11 am, at 9191 Barker Cypress Rd. For details, call Esther Robinson at (281) 290-3994. In League City, Goforth Elementary is having an aluminum can drive on Thursday.

It is not too late to organize a Texas Recycles Event of your own. The Texas Recycles Day site has materials to help.