STARKVILLE — As Starkville residents continue to sign up for the city”s new curbside recycling program, officials and “green” advocates in town can”t help but feel like their efforts are finally paying off.
As of Sept. 21, 474 households were signed up for curbside recycling, said Sharon Boyd, head of the city”s Sanitation Department. Sanitation Department trucks will collect residents” recyclables beginning Oct. 7 and take the items to Starkville Recycling, where they will be sorted and processed.
Ward 5 Alderman Jeremiah Dumas, a strong advocate of sustainable living, is one of the many city residents looking forward to the start of curbside pickup.
“I think it”s a fantastic step,” Dumas said. “I think it”s something that”s long overdue for the city. I”m glad we”re moving in the right direction. It”s something a lot of cities in the state aren”t doing and it gives us a chance to lead the way.”
The program is available only to single-family homes whose residents use the city”s curbside garbage pickup services, though Boyd hopes to one day expand curbside recycling to apartments and businesses.
Participating residents will receive green translucent bags in which they can place their recyclables. Residents whose garbage is picked up on Mondays and Thursdays will have their recyclables collected on the first and third Wednesday of every month; Tuesday and Friday residential routes will be picked up on the second and fourth Wednesday of every month.
Boyd said the Sanitation Department is about to begin an advertising campaign to let more people know about the free curbside pickup program.
“We”re trying to get the word out there and get as many people signed up for this as we can,” Boyd said.
Curbside recycling is only the latest environmentally friendly move made by a city which, especially in recent years, has prided itself on being progressive.
Sustainability
The city”s Board of Aldermen in 2008 passed a sustainability policy which, among other things, requires all new city buildings more than 3,000 square feet to be certified by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system. The LEED system sets standards for environmentally friendly building based on materials used, energy consumption and other factors.
The new Starkville Electric Department building, under construction at the corner of Lafayette and Franklin streets downtown, is being built to meet LEED standards. The Starkville Fire Department”s new station, set for construction at Reed Road and Highway 25 South, also will be LEED certified.
Aldermen and several community organizations, such as Starkville In Motion and Green Starkville, also have pushed toward alternative forms of transportation in recent years. A bicycle lane connects Mississippi State University with downtown Starkville and plans are in the works to build multi-use paths along several roads in the city, including Lynn Lane and Reed Road.
Maroon, white … and green
Mississippi State also offers recycling on campus and a group of citizens in the Plantation Homes subdivision last year worked with Starkville Recycling to begin a curbside pickup program there.
The Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems at Mississippi State University has built a national award-winning hybrid vehicle and is working on designing hybrid patrol cars for the university”s police department and the Starkville Police Department.
The Starkville Community Market kicked off last year and brought together farmers and artisans from around the area, with a focus on locally grown products. The market grew to be highly popular on South Lafayette Street every Saturday morning.
Several local eateries, like the Little Building Café, serve only locally grown food.
When asked about Starkville”s propensity toward environmentally friendly practices, Dumas cited the impact of the university and the number of young people in the city.
“I think with the demographics we have in the community, many people are associated with being pretty good stewards of the environment,” Dumas said.
Around the Triangle
Elsewhere in the Golden Triangle, the city of West Point formed a recycling committee in late summer to research a possible curbside recycling program there, said Justin Estes, an intern at City Hall who is working on the project. West Point officials are waiting to hear whether or not the city was approved for a grant before determining “the next step,” Estes said.
But West Point in the past month has started recycling at city buildings, which has cut down on the amount of trash going to the landfill by about 90 percent, Estes estimated.
Meanwhile in Columbus, Triangle Maintenance Services has 17 big blue recycling drop-off locations set up around the city and offers curbside pickup to Columbus residents for a fee. The company also recycles materials for businesses and manufacturing operations looking to save on landfill expenses.
Starkville residents interested in signing up for the curbside recycling program can do so Monday through Friday at the Sanitation Department, or at the Starkville Community Market, which takes place every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. on South Lafayette Street.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 29 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
