Letter to the Editor

August 29, 2012

To the Editor:

Over the last decade, Farmington has made great strides to become a strong supporter of recycling; recognizing that recycling allows individuals and households to become personally involved with improving our environment and with saving tax dollars.  As recently as 2011, our Town expanded recycling efforts by introducing single-stream recycling, replacing small bins with large, wheeled carts that allow more pounds of trash to be recycled by each household.  And our participation rate is quite obvious by viewing the hundreds of blue carts which line our streets each week.

Our efforts have been recognized by Recyclebank, a national non-profit, when they nominated Farmington to participate in a national recycling competition, the Green Choices Recycling Challenge, as Connecticut’s sole representative.  This competition, sponsored by SC Johnson, pits towns across the country against each other to see who has the highest per capita recycling rate. And the winning town is awarded a $100,000 grant in recognition of its recycling efforts.  Farmington can win this prize!

Yes, Farmington can win … but only if we all participate.

And participation is easy.  It’s easy because most of us already do the hard part; we already religiously recycle every other week.  So all we need to do is report what we already do.  The Green Choices Recycling Challenge requires that residents register either on the Recyclebank web site, www.Recyclebank.com/greenchoices , or by calling Recyclebank at 1.888.727.2978.  Once registered, each participant merely reports each time they recycle.  How easy is it? Every other Monday (my day to recycle), I receive an email asking me if I recycled.  One click puts me into the Recyclebank web site and a second click records my participation.  Done.  On the web, it’s that easy. Using the phone, it’s as easy as making a single phone call. 

If you aren’t recycling yet, now is the time to start.  Farmington needs your help.  We can win this event but only if we all do our part.  Put your paper, your plastic, your cardboard, cans, bottles and newspaper, put all your recyclables in your cart and bring your cart to the street every other week.  And tell Recyclebank what you’ve done.  If we all do our share, we will win together!

Sincerely,

John Vibert

Farmington Town Council

Green Efforts Committee