Tulsa World: Recycling at festivals catching on, M.E.T says

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Recycling at festivals catching on, M.E.T says

Melissa Adler-McKibben is shown at a recycling station during last year's Woody Guthrie Festival in Okemah. Courtesy

By SUSAN HYLTON World Staff Writer
Published: 7/6/2008 3:19 AM
Last Modified: 7/6/2008 3:44 AM

Festivals and concerts are plentiful in the summer months, and so are the number of empty beer cans and plastic water bottles left behind.

But recycling at special events is starting to catch on, and the Metropolitan Environmental Trust can help event organizers and volunteers coordinate their recycling efforts.

Michael Patton, executive director of the M.E.T., said only three or four event organizers asked for recycling containers last year.

But 30 to 40 events are recycling this year in the Tulsa area, which means that the local recycling effort has picked up by about 1,000 percent.

"Events people never asked for bins before; now suddenly they all are," Patton said. "We can't do all the work, but we do have all the containers to borrow. We just think it's part of a festival's responsibility."

The Art of Barbecue next weekend plans to recycle, as does the upcoming Green Country Eco-Expo and One Love Music Fest in Jenks.

Some vendors use cups that aren't recyclable. But events like DFest on July 25-26 are switching to aluminum cans, which really helps, Patton said.

"I would guess we're diverting about 20 percent of the waste from festivals," Patton said.

Other events that recycled recently were Cinco de Mayo, the LPGA SemGroup Championship, Mayfest and the Blue Dome Arts Festival.

The Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality also helps organizations with the coordination part of recycling.

The upcoming

Woody Guthrie Folk Festival July 9-13 in Okemah is one such event that plans to recycle cans, plastic, glass and cardboard again this year.

Special collection containers will be set up resulting in thousands of pounds of waste being recycled instead of hauled to the landfill.

More than 5,000 pounds of waste was diverted at the Okemah festival last year and nearly 8,000 pounds the year before.

Fenton Rood, DEQ's director of waste systems planning, said the Okemah festival recycles about half of the waste it generates.

Rood said DEQ started the recycling project about five years ago and it has quickly spread to various athletic events and music festivals across the state.

"It's really stepping up," Rood said.

Groups like the M.E.T. and DEQ can help organize recycling efforts by determining what items can be recycled and by consulting on collection and transportation.

"For many of the kinds of gatherings we have across the state it makes a whole lot of sense," Rood said. "We encourage people to follow our example."

For those collecting their own aluminum cans, a new company, Advanced Metal Recycling, 2300 N. Lewis Ave., will pay 75 cents a pound following the holiday weekend on Monday.

A nickel per pound will be donated to Habitat for Humanity. There is also a location in Sapulpa at 2210 N. Industrial Road, across from Frankoma Pottery.

Event recycling

For more information, call the M.E.T. at 584-0584 or go to www.tulsaworld.com/met.

Susan Hylton 581-8381
susan.hylton@tulsaworld.com By SUSAN HYLTON World Staff Writer

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retrodaisy, tulsa (7/6/2008 10:47:28 AM)

Credit should be given where credit is due. Organizations, such as, Mother Nature Needs You, Sustainable Tulsa, OKRA, and Tulsa Recycles have been working HARD to get recycling into these events and places. They pick up the trash up from most of these events, because the City’s Contractor cannot keep up and will not make special trips to businesses. Yet they will not relinquish the contract, so another who can and will may take over

Our society is learning very slowly.

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Santa, (7/6/2008 8:33:14 PM)

Oh BROTHaaaaaaa! WHAT next? Bicycling to the 4th of July FreedomFest? Naaaaaaaaah.

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