Nathan Alber is starting a recycling service in his Patrick Farms subdivision, powered by pedaling.
“No one really knows about it yet,” the 26-year-old said. “I’m going to make weekly trips and let the neighbors know of what I’m doing.”
He plans to start small: offering the service to nearby residents. But he hopes to see the program continue to grow.
Alber’s recycling efforts are unique to Rankin, a county nearly void of curbside recycling services.
“People just don’t think about it,” Alber said. “That’s the biggest obstacle.”
Alber’s home is four miles from Rankin’s main recycling site on Marquette Road. He carries his recyclables there on a trailer pulled behind his bike once a week.
Collecting recyclables by bike is a growing trend in New England and Pacific Northwest states, but it’s new here.
Alber said he has read about a program called Pedal People in Massachusetts, where residents of several cities can pay cyclists to haul their recyclables, trash and compost. Although it’s more complex than what he has planned, he said he likes the basic concept of hauling recyclables by bike, rather than using fossil fuel-powered vehicles.
“What I aim to do in my neighborhood is make curbside recycling available without the need of specialized trucks,” he said.
Alber also has found a Canadian recycling company that services downtown Victoria, which calls its recycling efforts “resource recovery.” He said he thinks likewise – recyclables are resources, not just trash.
“I think resource recovery is more accurate because the materials we recycle are resources for creating the products we enjoy,” he said.
The recycling service is in its infant stages. He has been carrying his own recyclables by bike – a 20-minute ride from his home – since November. He blogs about his efforts at his website: www.greenalternativebike.com.
Alber got hooked on recycling while in college at the University of Mississippi. His wife sparked his interest in what is now a burgeoning business.
If the service grows, he said he may have to revise how collection works. He suggested picking up all of the recyclables by bike and then carrying them in a vehicle to the drop-off point.
“It’s important that picking up recyclables is efficient,” said Moe Chowdhury, an urban planning assistant professor for Jackson State University. “It’ll be interesting to see how this works.”
Chowdhury managed a solid waste district in Ohio before coming to JSU.
Alber hopes his efforts increase recycling in Rankin County. A few cities once had curbside services, but they’ve been discontinued over the years, with cost being prohibitive.
Recycling in Rankin County is isolated to two drop-off sites. Hours are from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the sites in Brandon and the Ross Barnett Reservoir area.
“(Curbside) would make recycling easier for a lot of people who wouldn’t otherwise recycle,” he said.
Ridgeland, Madison, Clinton and Jackson, among a handful of other Mississippi cities, have city-funded curbside services, where recyclables are picked up like trash. Platted subdivisions in Madison County will see curbside recycling resume in January.
Rankin County Board of Supervisors President Wood Brown said he wants to see recycling services offered in the county. The problem is getting enough people to participate, he said.
“I think the majority of the board would vote for curbside if we have enough people to justify it,” Brown said.
Brown said supervisors will study the issue in 2011.
“We recycle at my house, and we have to take it all the way over to the firehouse,” Brown said of the collection site on Spillway Road.
Every time he goes, the bins are filled.
“If you don’t recycle, then you fill your landfills up,” Brown said. “Then you have to go through the expensive process of certifying your landfills.
The Clarion-Ledger, 1B, Dec. 29, 2010
