11/30/07- As seen in the citizen

Recycling fair was a huge success

BY Jody Smith Williams, GLEE vice president

On behalf of GLEE's R4 Team, we would like to thank everyone who participated in making the first Key West Recycling Fair on Nov. 17 a great success.

The attendance of nearly 400 people on a busy Saturday showed the community's enthusiasm for learning and practicing the 4 Rs of reduce, reuse, recycle and rot (compost). Two hundred recycling bins were given away in the first hour, leaving plenty of people on the waiting list for bins. Nearly 5,000 pounds of e-Waste was collected and kept out of the landfill. Jimmy Wray and friends juggled with batons made of recycled materials. High schoolers demonstrated the dos and don'ts of recycling.

Kim Gabel showed people how worms turn garbage into beautiful compost. Chris Belland encouraged all to Love Your Island and eliminate Styrofoam. Rock Solomon and Madek rocked the stage with the 3Rs. The Garbage People theater sang about the good guys winning over pollution and garbage.

Public luminaries including Mayor McPherson, City Manager Jim Scholl, Schools Superintendent Randy Acevedo and Rep. Ron Saunders all showed up to lend their support and speak in favor of a greener Key West with less waste, more recycling and better protection of our precious environment. We now have public and private pledges to do a much better job and improve our paltry rate of 6 percent recycling. It's up to all of us to make recycling a part of our daily routine, to encourage others to do it and to insist that the system make recycling accessible and convenient for all — for single-family residents, multifamily and public housing facilities, businesses and tourists alike. And especially in our schools, where dedicated teachers and staff have a great opportunity to lead by example for the next generation that will inherit the values we instill in them.

It is gratifying to know that community spirit for doing the right thing is alive and well in Key West. Our sincere thanks to our co-hosts, the city of Key West and Waste Management, to the very generous sponsors and volunteers who contributed time, talent and treasure, and to all the folks who came out to support the 4 Rs. Together, we can change the world, one aluminum can at a time. See you next year!

(To download the Recycling Fact Sheet, visit www.keysGLEE.com, www.loveyourisland.com, or www.keywestcity.com.)