South Hills' Recycling Contest Continues To Raise Community Awareness

In November 2010, 10 South Hills area communities mutually agreed to participate in a recycling contest in 2011.

Now, as the latter part of the year nears, each community is reporting increases in their recycling habits and increased production numbers.

Dormont is no exception, as the borough has reported an increase of almost 12 tons of recycling as of July 31.

While this is the lowest increase among the 10 active communities in the contest, Carol Winter, a clerk, has noticed a steady increase in recycling since the contest began.

“Our residents are really involved in recycling efforts,” Winter said.

As of the last day of July, Dormont is in sixth place in total tons collected with an impressive 349.26 tons. Mt. Lebanon is in first place with 1386.78 tons, while Upper St. Clair and Scott Township have accumulated 846.25 and 759.83 tons and are in second and third place respectively.

“I’ve seen first hand how many people just didn’t care about recycling or really didn’t understand how many different materials can be recycled,” Mt. Lebanon resident Andrew Baram said. “That’s what this contest is about, raising awareness.”

Baram, who is a member of the Waste Reduction Committee, helped put the contest together in late 2010, and has been an active leader in establishing knowledge and understanding in the communities.

“As a family, we only generate about a bag of trash per week,” he said. “Recycling is something I’ve always believed in. It’s something that all of us can do and really make a difference.”

So far, as a communal whole, the South Hills’ contest has been a huge success, collecting a total of 5460.23 tons, 574.51 more than the 2010 base amount, which is a 12-percent increase.

Single-stream curbside pickup programs continue to aid the effort, making it easier and more time efficient for residents to recycle without having to sort the materials, as well as providing more flexibility with a higher amount of materials being accepted.

The residential recycling competition was one of the 10 strategies included in the 2010 Mt. Lebanon Community Greenhouse Emission Inventory And Climate Action Plan. 

The competition will be judged in two categories, the largest percentage increase in residential recycling compared to last year, and the largest increase in residential tonnage over last year. Mt. Lebanon currently leads both categories.

There is still plenty of time for Dormont to improve its standing, as the contest will last until January. While varying demographics have an impact on the monthly numbers, of most importance is the understanding of what can be recycled.

“Most people think of glass and plastic,” Baram said. “But cardboard is a big one. With all of the online shopping people do nowadays, cardboard is a part of everyone’s garbage and it can, and should be, part of all our recycled materials.”

Since the inception of the recycling contest, communities have been working closely with Waste Management, Allied Waste, and Greenstar Recycling, as well as PNC Bank, all of which have aided with sponsorship and financial assistance.

“This was an idea we came up with to raise awareness,” Baram said. “But the important thing is people are recycling.  It’s a fun way to educate and alert people of what they can do to make a difference.  While it’s a competition, we’re all in this together.”

The winning community will be presents trophies at the conclusion of the competition, provided and designed by students at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh.

For more information, contact the Dormont Borough office at 412-561-8900.