Dateline: April 23, 2009

Clarendon wins area recycling trophy

By Ashlyn Tubbs, Clarendon Enterprise

Clarendon is more “green” than ever this year.

Thanks to the support of local citizens and businesses, Clarendon has for the first time received the traveling trophy from Panhandle Regional Planning Commission (PRPC) in Amarillo for being the top recycling community in the Panhandle.

Although Clarendon has been near the top of the list for the top recycling community in the Panhandle for the last five or six years, the community just didn’t recycle the amount of material needed to surpass other cities competing, such as Canadian, who received the trophy five years in a row until this year.

City Administrator John Webb expressed his joy at this recycling achievement.

“I’m excited,” Webb said. “I think this trophy is a pat on the back to all of the citizens in Clarendon. The fact that Clarendon is very supportive of recycling is something for our community to be proud of.”

According to Joe Neal Shadle, the supervisor over the recycling and sanitation department, at the end of this year Clarendon will have recycled an estimated 800,000 pounds or more of material since 1998.

“Over the years, recycling has gone up hard,” Shadle remarks. “More citizens and businesses, in particular, have started recycling all they can, especially cardboard and paper.”

One question that many citizens have is what exactly is the benefit of recycling? Shadle says recycling is simply an act to “take away from the citizens’ and the city’s expenses.”

The city pays Memphis Landfill over $60,000 a year just to dump trash, not including the trucking or time involved. The more trash that Clarendon cuts down, the less landfill expenses there will be. Recycling also helps keep garbage out of the waste stream, an eco-friendly step towards a cleaner environment.

“If we can keep cutting the costs back and keep what recyclables we can out of the waste stream, hopefully we can go down on the expenses that the city has to pay Memphis Landfill each year,” Shadle said. “If we don’t recycle though, it’s going to cost that much more to continue hauling the trash off.”

Clarendon will be able to keep the trophy exhibiting recycling efforts until October 1, when PRPC will reassess and see which community comes out on top. In order to win this trophy again, citizens are strongly encouraged to make sure that they get their recyclables out to the proper containers throughout the city. The Recycling Center, located on Front Street, also has containers properly marked for all recyclable materials, such as newspapers, magazines, plastics, as well as used oil, which can be dropped off through an oil filter.