Article in Sault Star

["Don McGorman" <mcgormd@hotmail.com>]

Tuesday January 02, 2001

http://www.saultstar.com/

 

Saultites chip-in by recycling

By BRIAN KELLY, The Sault Star

Keith Robson made good on an annual ritual this past weekend. He put his Christmas tree into the trunk of his car and brought it to the site of a local recycling project at the Cambrian Mall. Robson said he'd sooner see the tree turned into mulch than take up space in the city's landfill site.

In recent years thousands of Saultites have agreed with him.

This is the 11th year Clean North, the Sault Ste. Marie environmental group, has collected trees for chipping. Last year, 4,500 trees were collected. Since its inception, 45,000 trees have been fed through a wood chipper to make nutrient-rich mulch. ``They truly get recycled,'' said Clean North chair Kathie Brosemer. ``They become new trees.''

The mulch is used to help new trees that Clean North, in conjunction with several other groups, plants each spring.

This year's campaign, which began on Dec. 26, has so far netted only 300 trees. Most of those were contributed by vendors who had surplus stock after Christmas.

Brosemer expects that number to jump dramatically later this week as more homeowners begin taking down their trees following the end of the holiday season.

While the recycling initiative began solely with trees, phone books and flattened corrugated cardboard were added to the collection five years ago. This year, the public is also invited to bring office paper and household metals, with the exception of refrigerators.

``There's an awful lot of things that can be recycled,'' said Brosemer. ``Just because it doesn't go into your blue box doesn't mean it can't be recycled.''

Approximately 100 volunteers are assisting with the recycling program, which runs through Sunday.

This weekend, until 3 p.m both days, several community groups will join Clean North to accept donations for their respective causes.

• Humane Society _ blankets, towels and old sweaters;
• Friends of the Library: books;
• Women in Crisis Centre: pots and pans, cutlery, lamps, ironing boards, vacuums, small tables, night tables, TV stands, sheets, towels, blankets, some furniture items;
• Soup Kitchen: non-perishable foods;
• Sault Shrine Club: pop cans.

---

Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.