Cheers for UH's new recycling program

Loose curbside recycling has begun in University Heights.

It's an early Tuesday morning on Glendon Road in University Heights. Today is special—we are experiencing our first curbside pickup of loosely recycled items, deposited directly into an automated recycling truck. We neighbors cheered the service workers in this moment of glee.

It's been a long journey to reach this milestone in our community.  Several years of resident surveys addressing trash collection, arguments over the surveys themselves, more arguments over the survey results, local candidates running for office with trash collection preferences stated on their platforms, the powers that be ultimately realizing that the majority of residents wanted to ditch the blue plastic bags for recycled items (irony noted), and lots of negotiating at various local government meetings led to this morning. Opt-in loose recycling with curbside pickup in University Heights is now official.

The first 1,874 households to opt-in to the new program received their recycling carts over the past two weeks. Another few hundred households opted in later, and will receive their carts when the next round of funding is approved. Detailed instructions were delivered with each cart, and residents did their best to place the cart's handles facing the house on the curbside by 7 a.m. on the scheduled pick-up day.

I have never known a community to have such strong emotions related to trash and recycling collection. Yet this is University Heights, and I now find myself getting emotional over our new loose recycling program. At this very moment in time, our cheers and unbridled happiness, not to mention a toddler jumping for joy, left two service workers in their new automated recycling truck smiling from ear to ear. Thank you University Heights!