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An important Ashland attraction: the recycling center The Ashland Recycling Center. Photo courtesy of Recology Wednesday Jan 25, 2017 at 6:31 PM Jan 26, 2017 at 8:50 PM By Risa Buck For the Tidings The town of Ashland is set in a lovely rural setting with several large draws for those of us who live here and those who like to visit. The obvious places that set this town apart include Lithia Park, North Mountain Park, hiking and biking trails, creeks, shops, restaurants, theater and — last but not least — the Ashland Recycling Center. You might be thinking "WHAT?" Keep reading. Since the early '90s, Ashland has had a public facility on Water Street that offers unique and diverse opportunities for waste prevention, recycling and education that one might find in much larger cities closer to recycling markets. Our recycle center was born out of a collaborative effort between government, business and citizens. Some of the key players include former mayor Cathy Golden Shaw; Russ Chapman, former co-owner of Ashland Sanitary & Recycling (now Recology); Dick Wanderscheid, former city electric director; and a shining light during that time, former city councilor and first council liason to the newly formed Ashland Conservation Commission, the late Ken Hagen. The Ashland Recycling Center is dedicated to Ken. Check out the plaque commemorating his service to our community at the center. The recycle center has evolved over the years. When recycling became available in our community, we were required to separate the different materials for collection. In the old days (mid 1990s), paper, cardboard, glass (sorted by color), aluminum and metal cans were collected separately. Plastics had not inundated our lives at that time. Can you remember or imagine life pre-plastic packaging saturation? Commingle recycling came to town in 2007 that allowed a mixture of accepted items in one cart, with the exception of glass, which is still collected separately today. Nationally, the recycling industry determined that the best way to increase participation in recycling was by simplifying the process by allowing users to put everything “acceptable” into one container. The volumes of material definitely increased but the quality of the recycling was sacrificed (contamination) for a substantial increase in quantity. The variety of diversion opportunities at the Ashland Recycling Center have grown over the years. There are the large metal bins for commingle, cardboard and glass. These are the same items you can place on the curb for pick-up service if you live inside the urban growth boundaries of Ashland and Talent. This is where the ordinary stops and the extra special begins. For example, if you wish to learn about composting, there is an onsite demonstration area divided into two parts. The green sign area shows collection containers for “yard debris” type of organics. The red sign area shows examples of compost containers suitable for food scraps. There is a significant difference between composting yard material versus leftover food. Food scraps provide a smorgasbord for hungry raccoons, skunks, rats, mice, dogs, deer and bears (for examples). For public health and safety reasons, extra measures are required to compost food scraps responsibly. A second unique offering at the recycle center is the FreeBox. It started out at the Ashland Community Food Store when it was located where the Ashland Outdoor Store is today. After the Co-op moved to its current location, its popularity had outgrown the space available. The FreeBox was then adopted by the recycle center back in the '90s. The FreeBox welcomes clean clothing and shoes and those needing or wanting clothes or shoes may take them home. Another opportunity at the recycle center is a Styrofoam peanut exchange. If you have excess clean peanuts they can be dropped off and folks that need them pick them up. That is re-use in action which is much better than landfilling this material. There is no facility in Southern Oregon that is currently recycling any Styrofoam. Our recycle center is a community resource envied by other places that seek to emulate what we are doing. There is more to share and I have run out of room for today. Stay tuned and in two weeks we will continue the discussion about the rest of the services at the recycle center. In the meantime, head down there yourself and soak in an important part of what makes Ashland, Ashland. Risa Buck has served on the Ashland Conservation Commission and in waste prevention education for more than a decade. You may reach her through [email protected]. Find past WasteNot columns online at bit.ly/rbwastenot.