Recycling in Alaska is not a popular past time. There are resources to recycle. There are private companies that will pick up your recyclables and there are recycle centers. My parents choose to burn their paper products. We collect our paper products, milk jugs, clear drink plastic containers, #5 cottage cheese and yogurt containers, brown bags, steel cans, aluminum cans, separate them and every two weeks drop them off at the Valley Community Recycling Center (VCRS). Our Recycling Center is a wonderful resource. It is run by volunteers, donations, and grants. In addition to dropping off presorted recycling(there is a suggested donation of $3), they have a short loop walk with artwork, a dvd and book lending library, a classroom to learn about trash and reduce, reuse, recycle.
My kids enjoy visiting VCRS, though for safety they are not allowed out of the car at drop off, until they are 14 years old. Next to the building is a short circle path through the woods with recycled art along the way. We like to walk it and see what creations have been added. Inside the building I enjoy perusing the dvd and book lending library. The kids enjoy the toys in the classroom.
I have purchased various bottles and aluminum cans for my classes for very reasonable amounts of pennies, nickels, and dimes. The long-time workers (some are volunteer and some paid) remember me as the lady who lost her hard drive while recycling. Several years ago I was recycling after a long week at work. Someone was helping me take by bags and boxes. When I got home and was continuing grading work, I realized I was missing some of the student’s work. I spent hours backtracking my steps until I concluded it must have been recycled. They were closed, but the next day I was allowed to go diving for my papers in one of the closed off sections with a helmet. I ended up finding my hard drive, as well as most of the papers. To make matters easier, every student in my class received a 100% on those assignments that were possibly lost, no complaints there. Note to self: Do not put grading papers near recyclables.
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