PWC to collect recyclables at county fair

PLAINS – The Plains Woman’s Club will continue their efforts to help beautify the community and area around them by distributing recycling containers around the Sanders County Fairgrounds.

In their third year, the women have recently upgraded to sturdier recycling bins, ones that should be easy to spot by fair-goers.

On average an American discards seven and a half pounds of garbage every day, most of which ends up in landfills. The club is hoping to mitigate the amount of recyclables that may end up in a landfill by placing the bins around the fairgrounds.

The group will be collecting both cans and water bottles. Last year the group collected 18 regular 33-gallon trash bags full of recycling. The year prior, the group was able to recycle 11 bags, after they had sorted through the original 15 bags that were collected.

Glenda Wolverton of the Plains Woman’s Club hopes the new recycling bins will make it so less garbage is placed into the receptacles.  

In the past the club has had problems with food and non-recyclables being dumped into the bins.

“These are more clear in letting them know we are only accepting cans and plastic water bottles,” Wolverton stated. “It will hopefully cut down on discarded food and food containers.”

Wolverton said the process to separate trash from recyclables is not only time consuming, but it’s also a messy and smelly job.

This will be the first year the club has put out the new recycling bins, which were an investment they felt was important. Although initial start up costs were high, the bins can be used for years to come, if not even decades, stated Wolverton.

The bins pack down and make for easy storage; something Wolverton said was a plus.

Although the mission is only in its third year, it is important to the club that the community’s carbon footprint is minimized.

“It’s important to do our part to keep our city, our community and our earth clean,” Wolverton said.

Wolverton said that every piece of garbage the club can mitigate or control, will help improve not only the areas close to their hearts, but also the world as a whole.

Typically the recycling effort was held to help keep the community clean, but this year it may also double as a fundraising effort for the club. The recyclables may be transported to the recycling center in Missoula to raise some funds for the club.

“That hasn’t been our focus, but if we can raise a little bit of money through our recycling efforts, it’s a bonus,” Wolverton said.

The club will have to decide first whether or not the profit gained would be more than the cost of travel.

So far the efforts have been

heavily concentrated towards the Sanders County Fair, but the new bins will make it easier for the club to offer easy recycling at other events.

The bins made their first appearance at the Shakespeare in the Parks event, hosted by the Plains Woman’s Club in memory to former member Louise Lulack.

“We are exploring other options in terms of having (the bins) out at all of our events, where it makes sense to have them,” Wolverton said.

The club is also open to sharing information with other groups and organizations that may be interested in contributing to the recycling efforts within the counties.

“I definitely would encourage any group that does public events to look into them,” Wolverton said.

The bins will be placed next to trash receptacles at the fair and the hope is the efforts have caught on more and a record amount of recyclables will be saved from landfills, helping to better the communities, one small recyclable at a time.