By Matthew Jackson
Staff Reporter
HUNTSVILLE —
Residents in Riverside can now begin recycling a little closer to home, thanks to the initiative of a Riverside resident and a Huntsville business owner.
Since mid-July two recycling containers for paper products including newsprint, books and magazines, have been available just outside Riverside City Hall. The containers allow residents to drop off paper products to recycle any time, day or night, without the hassle of driving to Huntsville.
The containers are the result of the work of Connie Habern, a Riverside resident and former Riverside City Council member who partnered with James Murph at Huntsville’s Try 2 Recycle to bring recycling resources to her neighbors.
“I presented to the Riverside City Council the need for recycling in Riverside, because it’s such a long distance from Riverside to the recycling center in Huntsville,” Habern said.
After the proposal was presented, a questionnaire was sent to residents asking for their responses to a proposed recycling program. Habern said paper became the first product accepted, but that more are likely on the way.
“We’re going to progress into the next two containers for metal and cardboard,” Habern said. “We’ve got many programs started and we’re doing it in stages. I think it’s going well.”
Habern said the arrangement allows Murph and Try 2 Recycle to collect their own revenue from the recycling while they provide the containers to the City of Riverside for free.
For longtime Riverside residents, the program marks a chance to keep their streets a little cleaner in a more convenient way, something Habern sees as a point of pride for the entire city.
“I am just really pleased because every little bit we recycle means less that will go on the street in Riverside,” Habern said. “Having been a member of the city council, I know that keeping Riverside clean has been an issue, and I’m very pleased that they are responding,”
