Published: August 22, 2008 10:11 pm      

In Murray, recycling starts in school

Frank Adams believes it will take a few years of hard work to change peoples’ attitudes about recycling in Murray County. So he’s starting where those attitudes can be the most impressionable — in the school system.

With the board of education’s approval, Keep Chatsworth-Murray Beautiful (Adams is the director) now has an 8-cubic-yard recycling bin at each school campus for paper products, with two 45-gallon containers to transport the paper to the bins.

The Waste Services company is providing the bins, and has teamed up with Caraustar Dalton Recycling, which re-uses the paper products.

“We’re really excited about that,” Adams said. “When kids get involved, I believe we can change an entire culture within three to five years. They’ll no longer be throwing litter out the (car) window, but recycling. If you sell the kids on it, they’ll take it home.”

Although he depends on some local government funds to help the organization’s efforts going, Adams has set up the program so it cannot be torpedoed by any one entity withdrawing funds.

“We’re a nonprofit,” he said. “We became a 501(C)3 in October of 2006 and are affiliated with Keep America Beautiful and Keep Georgia Beautiful.”

The organization receives $15,000 each from Chatsworth and Murray County annually, and Adams oversees a budget of $70,000. He began taking a $15,000 salary this year, and also gets program funds through donations and offering memberships on a benefactor basis, with “supporter fees” ranging from $2 to $1,000 for anyone from students to corporations. It also picks up items that can be recycled for cash, like aluminum cans.

Adams graduated from Murray County High School in 1956, then worked around the country before settling in Smyrna and retiring from city government there. He ran the recycling program and was in charge of the Keep Smyrna Beautiful program.

Murray government has been an active participant in county cleanups even before Keep Chatsworth-Murray Beautiful, opening the landfill on Highway on 411 South for two “free dump days” each year in April and October. A total of 70 tons of refuse was brought in last spring, and a similar amount in 2007.

“I believe Frank has been a tremendous asset for the community,” said sole commissioner Jim Welch, who started the free-days-at-the-landfill program. “We’ve still got a long way to go (in cleanup efforts), but the difference has been like night and day.”

Another success is the Adopt-A-Mile program. In two years, 53 miles of city and county roads have been adopted by businesses, agencies, school groups and families in the litter pickup program.

“We are getting litter off the roads, and by the volume of recycling we’re seeing a drop in items going into the landfill,” said Chatsworth Mayor Tyson Haynes. “It’s also given our community service people (probationers) a good way to complete their service.”