RED RIVER A new recycling committee has been established in Red River, and its members hope to start a new waste-reduction program in town soon.

Town Councilor Steve Cherry, who was elected last month, will be the liaison for the recycling committee. Cherry said he has spoken about preliminary plans with recycling professionals in the area during the last couple of weeks, but the committee still needs more input, and a plan has yet to be drawn up.

Ive had some concerned citizens who want to discard their hazardous waste like paint and stuff, and they want to talk about how to dispose of those materials properly, Cherry said, adding that the program will most likely start with the basics: plastic, glass and cardboard.

The members of the committee as of Monday (April 7) were Steve Gorsich, Steve Cherry and Chris Downs.

One incentive Cherry mentioned was the refuse costs that could potentially be alleviated by recycling. Cherry is the proprietor of Shotgun Willies restaurant in Red River.

I just know as a business owner in the summer, if we get a large delivery, we can fill up one dumpster with cardboard, alone, Cherry said. I can only imagine what the total is for the rest of the town altogether. I know all the T-shirt shops, when they get in large orders of boxes, I think it would be beneficial for them to recycle.

The time frame for the project is still in the works. Mayor Linda Calhoun said it could be six months before anything serious reaches the town council for consideration.

I hope it (starts) pretty quick, Cherry said. When we were in Los Alamos, they had just bought new equipment for their compactors, and there are some other people who may have a compactor that they may want to get rid of. We may be able to use some equipment thats just sitting around. It would just take some time to get the equipment and the process. We may have to use city employees or a company come pick it up.

In addition to their real-estate business, Calhouns family also owns Red Rivers only supermarket, Der Markt. She said the store recycles some materials with a compactor. As for the rest of the town, using city employees may not be the direction the town can go.

We have visited with Angel Fire and Eagle Nest for the last few years, talking about their recycling programs, and what Im hoping the committee will do will be to seek grant funding, decide where we want to start, because this will be brand new, Calhoun said. We need to decide what we want to do and work out the logistics of it.

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Sangre Chronicle > Red River > Recycling an idea, Red River heads back to drawing board