Ogunquit News
Ogunquit rewards recycling champs
By C. Ayn Douglass
Reduce, Re-use and Recycle to protect the environment starts at the grassroots level in Ogunquit. At last Tuesday's Board of Selectmen meeting, Recycling Committee Chairwoman Nancy Fording awarded two businesses and four residents certificates of achievement - and brand new recycling bins - for their efforts in protecting Ogunquit's natural resources and reducing tipping fees. Pictured are John Miller, Muriel Freedman, Nancy Fording, Bobbi Treen and Jordan Freedman.
Courtesy photo
OGUNQUIT - Two local businesses and four residents have been recognized by the Ogunquit Recycling Committee for an outstanding commitment to the town's voluntary recycling program in 2006.
Ogunquit Recycling Chairwoman Nancy Fording announced the winners at the Board of Selectmen's meeting on Nov. 21 and presented the six winners with brand new recycling bins and framed certificates of honor for their participation in preserving the natural environment.
Fording and the selectmen decided to present the awards at a televised meeting to draw attention to the effort made by the winners to reduce the amount of waste at the transfer station, which in turn helps protect the environment and saves a substantial amount of money budgeted for tipping fees.
This year, the committee honored commercial recipients of the award for the first time. The winners are Bill Leonard, owner of Ogunquit Remedies on Main Street, and David Hanson, owner of The Milestone Motel on Route 1.
Hanson said recycling "is part of what we do on a day-to-day basis and is incorporated into the daily routine."
This year, Hanson said, The Milestone began recycling fluorescent bulbs to reduce mercury in the waste stream and protect water quality.
"Guests notice there's an effort to recycle and it helps generate business," he said.
Leonard said he had been recycling since the 1970s and believes it's important to recycle. His retail business receives a great deal of recyclable material in the form of cardboard packaging and he makes weekly trips to the transfer station to deposit it in the container designated for paper and cardboard.
"Packaging is important to recycle," he said. "Any recycling that can be done should be."
Residents Bobbi Treen, John Miller and Muriel and Jordan Freedman recycle as a matter of environmental conscience and smart economic sense. The Freedmans, originally from Needham, Mass., where pay-as-you-throw became the policy of the town, carried waste reduction to their new home in Ogunquit. They use paper shredders in their home office and generate only two bags of trash monthly.
Treen said she is very conscious of global warming and toxic runoff and recycles as much material as possible.
"It's a small, but powerful, way to make an impact," she said.
Ogunquit Board of Selectmen Chairman John Miller said his goal in recycling was to reduce waste disposal costs and hoped to set an example to others in town to do the same.
Records from Transfer Station Manager Graham Simonds show a steady increase in recycled material between 2003 and 2005. Figures for 2006 are not quantified yet.
Asked how he and the Recycling Committee decide who should get the annual performance awards, Simonds said, "We know who's recycling. It's based on performance - who's separating (recyclables) and doing it on a continuing, very consistent basis."
