Local Video
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| Reuse recycle: Northfield cleanup ahead |
By: By SUZANNE ROOK
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If you go
Annual Spring Clean-Up Days
Saturday April 26 and May 3 from 7 to 11 a.m. at the Northfield Rodeo Grounds on Hwy. 3.
Northfield residents can drop off unwanted items, including building materials. Fees will be charged for appliances, computers, TVs and stereos. Yard waste and hazardous items such as paints, fertilizers and batteries will not be accepted.
Environmental Club Yard Sale
Saturday, May 3 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the United Church of Christ on Union Street. Proceeds will help pay for an earth tub to compost school kitchen waste. |
NORTHFIELD — The city’s annual clean-up days — planned for the next two Saturdays — will add a recycling component. Not bottles and can recycling. Reuse recycling.
In the past, Northfielders dropped off their unwanted stuff and Waste Management hauled it to a landfill.
But no more.
Now only unusable or broken items will go to the landfill. The rest will be set aside by volunteers for a yard sale planned for 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 3 at United Church of Christ on Union Street hosted by Northfield High School’s Environmental Club.
The club plans to use the money from its sale to help pay for an earth tub that will compost kitchen waste from the high school cafeteria.
Dumping without considering potential reuse seemed like a waste to Suzie Nakasian, a member of the city’s Environmental Quality Commission.
At past clean-up events, Nakasian noticed 40’s-era lawn chairs tossed in with busted TVs and broken tables. A lot of what’s discarded can still be used, she said.
“A lot of times, people are dumping things for convenience’ sake,” said Candy Taylor, executive director of Fifth Bridge, a Northfield group which encourages volunteerism. Fifth Bridge volunteers have agreed to man the clean-up days site and help collect yard sale items for the Environmental Club.
The annual clean-up days are held by Waste Management as part of its contract with the city. Only Northfield residents are permitted to drop off their items. IDs will be checked.
Margo Underwood, a Waste Management community relations representative, said she — and her company — are all for Nakasian’s reuse plan. “Waste Management thinks it’s a great idea if we can reduce what’s in the landfill,” she said. “It’s a win-win for the community and the environment.”
Said Taylor: “If we can save even a handful of things, that’s a handful of things that don’t go to the landfill.”
— Suzanne Rook can be reached at srook@northfieldnews.com or 645-1113.
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