The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Moving actively toward more recycling and less trash
In an effort to do more than just talk the talk, the town of Crested Butte is stepping up its recycling expectations for events held in the community. Events like the Fourth of July celebration and the Crested Butte Arts Fair will be asked to increase recycling, with the ultimate goal for a “zero waste” affair. While mandates won’t be set in place this year, monitoring will begin this summer.
Crested Butte deputy town clerk Carmen Bell has been on the case and she presented the Town Council with some ideas and guidance at their February17 meeting.
“Last summer there were council concerns about the amount of trash and recyclables generated at special events,” she said. “We want a collaborative approach with the event organizers and want them to come up with their own creative plans to improve recycling that can match their event.”
The town’s special events application will now include a requirement that each event provide a plan to reduce waste and increase recycling. Bell said she has met with representatives of the Arts Fair, the Chamber of Commerce—which organizes the July 4 celebration and Fat Tire Bike Week—the Wildflower Fest and the Crested Butte Farmer’s Market. “We received good feedback from them and they all seemed to buy into the idea,” she said. “There were, however, some concerns with increased costs for the events.”
The town will help take the lead with a “pilot program” for the July Fourth festivities. Working with the new company Gothic Mountain Waste Solutions (GMW), the town hopes to see a noticeable decrease in waste at the largest gathering of the summer.
According to a memo provided to the council, GMW plans “to have volunteers monitor recycling stations along Elk Avenue to ensure they are not contaminated with trash.”
GMW will also provide “signage to direct the public to proper waste and recycling locations. A report after the event will be provided with an itemized description of the amounts of refuse and recycling collected and disposed of at the Gunnison County Landfill and Recycling Center.”
Andrew Shoup of GMW said he was excited to participate in the pilot program. “We have been working with Crested Butte Mountain Resort and we have been able to significantly decrease trash and increase recyclables,” he said. “We are looking forward to this. We are here to help during the big events like Fourth of July.”
Town clerk Eileen Hughes told the council her department “didn’t want to mandate recycling. We wanted each event to be creative and see what works. We then want everyone to be able to share resources and ideas.”
Bell said the awareness of moving toward zero waste events “was a step in the right direction. This starts the momentum.”
Councilmember Kimberly Metsch agreed. “This is a great first step and a great idea,” she said. “Getting volunteers that are psyched to help is a great idea.”
Bell said she would immediately inform event organizers of the modified application so they wouldn’t be surprised. The town will also “extend the scope of the current clean-up deposit so that the funds would be retained if an event fails to adequately follow through on their reduced trash-increased recycling plan.”
Look for a greener series of events starting with Independence Day this coming summer.
