Talkeetna Recycling Committee meets, discusses fundraising

On Tuesday, the Talkeetna Recycling Committee held its second meeting at the Roadhouse.  The Committee was formed after Mat-Su Borough Solid-Waste Manager Butch Shapiro approached the Talkeetna Community Council with a plan for how communities could begin a recycling program.

Under the program, each community would pay for a container to hold three types of sorted recyclables.  The borough would then facilitate transportation of the recycling to the Valley Community Recycling Solutions facility in Palmer, near the central landfill.

Each container has been estimated to cost communities around $10,000 for refurbishing.  Katie Writer, TCC board member, says that the borough will allow logos and other representations of sponsorship to be displayed on the containers, but that each one would be rotated in a round-robin fashion between the participating communities.

Fundraising opportunities were also discussed at Tuesday’s meeting.  The fundraising goal has been raised from around $10,000 to $25,000, with an eye to purchasing two containers instead of just one.  Ideas for raising the money include benefits and other events, potentially scheduled around Earth Day.  Additionally, an account has been set up at Matanuska Valley Federal Credit Union to accept donations.

The next scheduled meeting will be devoted to fundraising, and will take place on March 5th at 10:00 am at the Flying Squirrel Bakery Cafe`.