Thinking green : Downtown businesses make recycling a priority
Posted on Saturday, December 15, 2007
The lack of a commercial recycling program is not stopping some Downtown Fayetteville businesses.
Mangers at Brewski's Draft Emporium, and the owner of Jammin Java on the Square, are working independently to make recycling a part of their business plan.
Dave Moser, a manager at Brewski's, said that for the past four weeks, the staff has been sorting bottles and taking them to the city's recycling center once a week.
Using six 50-gallon trash cans, the staff sorts bottles by color, Moser said. Aluminum cans are also recycled, but they don't make up as much of the waste stream, he said.
In about five days, Moser said, the bar produces about 300 gallons of bottles and around 30 gallons of aluminum.
"We've reduced our trash by 75-85 percent," he said. "It doesn't save any money, but it doesn't cost any money."
Moser said that the motivation is purely a desire to do the right thing, but there are several benefits. The effort has strengthened the staff's relationship, as they are unified by the project, he said.
Employees responsible for taking the trash out every night, though they have to separate the bottles, are happy because they have less trash to lug out to the dumpsters, Moser said. It took about two weeks to get the staff trained to put the bottles in a bus tub, which he said was basically breaking the habit of throwing them away.
Moser said that, while the managers of the bar, which includes Travis Wooten and Patrick Branch, the entire staff and owner of the bar are strongly in favor of the effort. Moser said that the group has surveyed other Dickson Street business owners to gauge their interest in recycling.
While the survey revealed a strong interest in recycling, Moser said, most owners wouldn't do it until the city had a system, such as putting a container near the businesses. He said it will require a level of commitment for people to participate now.
Moser said that Brewski's has more space for the operation, having closed its kitchen. The bar also benefits from having a very low turn over, where others would have staff changes every six months.
The city has helped by granting better access to the center, which means the staff can simply dump the bottles, and no longer have to sort them by hand. Moser said the access was granted when they met earlier this week with city staff, who was very supportive.
"We got good feedback from them," he said. "It was really nice to have the meeting with the city, there's the right political climate, but its not financially feasible to do."
While Moser and his crew are busy leading by example, Brandon Karn, owner of Jammin Java is taking a similar approach at his business on the Square.
Karn, however, fills up residential recycling containers each week, which he takes home for collection. He said his staff recycles everything they can, which includes milk jugs, glass and cardboard.
"We try to do a pretty good job, but we can only do so much," he said. "I've got four or five bins and have to take'em to my house."
Karn said that when he started, he was putting the bins on the Square, but they kept disappearing.
"I still do it because I need to do it," he said.
Of course, there is still plenty of recyclable materials that make it into the trash, Karn said, because he only has so many bins.
"I could probably go through 20 bins of milk jugs a week - that's smashed," he said.
Karn said that it is important for the city to develop a program that will make it easy for downtown businesses to recycle, even if its' a little costly. He said he has been talking with people about options, such as having businesses buy bins, which could be a form of advertising for them.
What it comes down to is the amount of glass and other recyclables that are being shipped from Dickson Street to the landfill. Instead of waiting to figure out how to provide recycling to business and apartments city wide, he said, the city should start with the downtown.
"It's hard to ignore thousands and thousands of pounds of bottles on one street," Karn said.
It is time to make a decision as a community, Karn said. If Fayetteville is going to become the hub for sustainability, then there has to be a commitment to being green.
"If we're going to continue calling... it Green Valley, if that's the way we're going, we can't just keep talking about it," he said.
Karn said that he is talking with people about other possible programs, such as printing stickers for businesses that recycle, so patrons can make their decision on where to go. He said that push could be helped by "starting citizen accountability."
"If you start losing business because you don't recycle, you're going to do it," he said.
Karn said that he doesn't think that things will change until the next mayor is in office, which is why he's meeting with candidate Walt Eilers, who is in favor of such ideas. Karn said that he doesn't know the stance of the other official candidate, Jeff Koenig.
John Coleman, the city's sustainability coordinator, said that he is often asked why the city doesn't have a commercial or multifamily recycling program.
He said that it goes back to the 1990 's when the system was set up. The way it was designed is effective in many ways, but it is limited in terms of expansion.
Because the materials are sorted where they are picked up, there is no way to sort the materials at the center, Coleman said. The desire to expand the service is definitely there, he said, but there will have to be a discussion on whether it is something the city wants to invest in.
Coleman said recycling programs tend to lose money, which will have to be discussed before moving to expand.
"Does that mean you go deeper in the hole, or is there a way to start breaking even, or are people willing to raise rates ? "he asked.
Coleman said that a study of the recycling program is in the works, and will have to be done before the discussion gets much further. Until then, he said, he is ready to do what he can to help businesses in their efforts recycle on their own.
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