I moved to East Peoria 15 years ago. A lot of good things have happened in that short amount of time. I have had three children. I’ve become active in my local church and schools. My husband has a successful position with the park district. I also became a member of our community’s Green Team over a year ago.
However, one achievement stands out in my mind. That is the implementation of our city’s curbside recycling program.
When this program first became available, there were many of us who got on board. I still have the same bins to prove it. I remember the first percentage of homeowners was reported at 26 percent. That seemed low to me. After all, why wouldn’t everyone want to recycle? Our community has the best deal around: the program is free to homeowners, each household receives two bins, and pick up is weekly.
Around two years ago, I started talking to residents. I wanted to explain to those folks who didn’t recycle the advantages of our program, and I did see an increase in recycling. In 2008, recycling jumped 10 percent, from 44 percent to 54 percent over the previous year. For the last two years, I’ve also organized the informational tables about recycling at school registration. Every week I see new families with recycling bins, and I’m encouraged. I will be excited to see if we can reach 60 percent participation by year’s end.
I believe there’s more our city can do to encourage this effort. It would be beneficial for all new homeowners to receive a folder with information about our city’s amenities at their scheduled closing. Items included could be, but not limited to, school and church locations, emergency phone numbers and contacts, doctors, hotel and restaurant information, Chamber of Commerce highlights, and of course, garbage schedules and recycling information. If you were ever new to East Peoria, I’m sure you would agree this information would have been helpful.
I’m only one person with a very small voice. If you agree with any of the comments made, please attend a city council meeting and encourage our mayor and commissioners to make living and building green a priority in East Peoria!
East Peoria, Ill. —
