Green Recycling Products Blog

Camping is the number one outdoor vacation activity in America, according to the Travel Industry Association trade group. They also report that one-third of adults in the U.S. have gone on camping trips in the past five years. Camping continues to be a strong and viable vacation option even in this uncertain economy. Many retirees opt for camping in their golden years, rather than staying in their homes. Families are also going tent and RV camping more frequently these days.

Most of us take the time to recycle at home. But when you are visiting different campgrounds, it is not as easy to recycle when the option is not made available to you. Surprisingly, many campgrounds do not recycle.

If a campground doesn't provide recycling receptacles for their visitors, the limited space in an RV can fill quickly while the visitor stores recyclables to be offloaded once they've left the park. Campgrounds need to make recycling containers available to the growing number of campers.

Recycling opportunities for campers and picnickers exist at all five full-facility Broward County, Florida campgrounds.  Broward County has been utilizing the Profile 6 Recycling containers to make it more convenient for campers to maintain their recycling programs when out in the wilderness, thus reducing their carbon footprint while visiting the beauty of nature.

The Profile line of containers, manufactured by the Fibrex Group, are very attractive in appearance and easy to use. Made from quality fiberglass with a high gloss gelcoat finish, these containers need little maintenance and will perform beautifully year after year.

It seems logical that campgrounds would be one of the most obvious places to be green and close the loop.  If you would like more information on how you can implement a recycling program at your state park, campground or picnic area contact the Fibrex Group.

Funding for recycling containers was recently awarded for the “Play Green” project.

The grant funding allows the city to furnish additional permanent recycling containers for the parks, as well as purchase more portable recycling containers for the city’s special events as well as educational and promotional materials.

“The containers are primarily for water bottles, cans and that sort of thing,” said Cristal Rollins, community programs coordinator for Coppell. “Those are the things found most often out on the parks and trails. Park goers can now recycle more while they are using the parks, fields, facilities and trails with the new recycling containers in place.

The containers were provided by a Solid Waste Implementation Project grant from the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) and Texas Commission on Environmental Equality (TCEQ).

Rollins wrote the grant for just under $15,000 and that money provided 17 new recycling containers in the parks and on the trails located in Coppell.

The recycling containers have been placed at Andy Brown East and West parks, the Kid Country playground and the trail system. Each recycling container is marked with “Coppell Recycles Bottles and Cans” signage and has a special opening at the top to minimize contamination. The recycling receptacles are placed next to trash cans in all locations, Rollins said.

“The recycling containers are in the parks and we are using some of the portable containers we purchased at some of the recent city events,” she said. “We also purchased some promotional items to give out to encourage people to recycle.”

Recycling in the parks was first initiated in 2006. The first recycling containers were placed at the soccer and baseball fields at Wagon Wheel and MacArthur parks through “Run, Refresh, Recycle.”

The “Run, Refresh, Recycle” project was also funded through a Solid Waste Implementation Project grant.

The “Play Green” project funds have given the city the opportunity to enhance the park recycling program, increase the diversion rate and create less waste that ends up in a landfill, and gives park users more chances to play green, Rollins said.

Original article written by Jim Kilpatrick – Coppell Gazette