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Recycling comes to Blackfoot |
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Thursday, 27 August 2009 |
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Leslie Mielke BLACKFOOT — Recycling in Bingham County is only a phone call away. Levi and Kendra Stacey have been operating Bingham Curbside Recyclers since April 2009. They can be reached at 681-8597.
 The Morning News / Leslie Mielke
Levi and Kendra Stacey and their children, Riley and Hailey, have started a recycling business in Bingham County. Their business is called Bingham Curbside Recyclers.
“We think it’s time for Idaho to get into recycling,” she said.
This is how it works. When a person signs up for this service, he/she receives a blue and white 55-gallon plastic barrel. All recyclables go into one barrel. “It’s simple and kids love to help as well,” Kendra said.
When recycling paper, it is requested that the paper be placed in any type of plastic bag that can be tied. This prevents the paper being blown around with the wind, Kendra said.
Each recycling barrel is picked up twice a month, for example, every other Friday. The service costs $5 each month.
The Staceys are building a shop in which they sort the recycled material. After it is separated and bundled, the Staceys give it to Idaho Disposal.
“Right now, the recycling places pay 1¢ per pound for paper and 2¢ per pound for cardboard,” Kendra said. “You can get 25¢ per pound for aluminum but it requires a number of months to earn $50 from aluminum.”
At present, the Staceys pick up recycled material in Blackfoot and Firth. Kendra is taking names of interested people in the Snake River and surrounding areas.
The following paper items can be recycled: newspaper, telephone books, magazines, catalogs, all paper including junk mail, cardboard boxes including cereal, laundry detergent, beverage and pizza boxes.
Plastic and aluminum items that can be recycled include the following:
plastic bottles, aluminum cans, aluminum foil, steel cans (except aerosol and paint cans).
Every year, people in the United States generate approximately 230 million tons of “trash”--about 4.6 pounds per person per day. Less than one-quarter of it is recycled, the rest is incinerated or buried in landfills.
With a little forethought, people could reuse or recycle more than 70 percent of the landfilled waste which includes valuable materials such as glass, metal and paper.
This would reduce the demand on virgin sources of these materials and eliminate potentially severe environmental, ecomonic and public health problems.
“I do believe it is important for everyone to recycle,” Kendra said.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 31 August 2009 )
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