It's Christmas Party Time!

Guess what? It's almost time for the Sustainable Shawnee/Shawnee Peace Fellowship Christmas Party! Mark your calendars for Dec. 16th. @ 6:30 pm. We'll gather at the Owl Shoppe for tasty finger foods and bring your own adult beverage. The cost will be $15.

I hope you can join us and bring a friend. Please RSVP by email if you plan to attend so we have some sense of the numbers. Thank you and Happy Holidays!

Oklahoma Recycling Conference - Edmond, Oct. 9th

Learn about the best ‘next steps’ in waste diversion programs, outreach and policies for your city, county, business, school, office or special event at the full-day Oklahoma Recycling Conference to be held in Edmond on Oct. 9 on the campus of the University of Central Oklahoma (new location this year!).

The 2014 conference, Increasing Diversion: Events, Offices, Rural Areas, hosted by the Oklahoma Recycling Association, will feature the president and CEO of the National Recycling Coalition, Mark Lichtenstein, who will discuss national diversion rates.

Other program topics include: Hub & Spoke Infrastructure for Rural Recycling, State Agency Recycling & Data Collection, Office Recycling, Event Recycling, Bin Loan Programs, Food Waste Recovery, 50 Shades of Green, and Managing Volunteers. Tours include UCO’s recycling program and Minick Materials’ commercial-scale composting operation.

Online registration and more information about the conference and expo, scheduled at UCO’s Nigh Center, can be found here: www.recycleok.org/events-activities.php. Registration includes all sessions, continental breakfast, refreshments, a buffet lunch and one tour. Up to six continuing education credits will be offered to members of SWANA who attend the conference.

The 2014 Oklahoma Recycling Conference is sponsored by UCO, the Oklahoma Department of Environment Quality, Oklahoma State University, Batliner Recycling, Republic Services, Choctaw Nation, City of Stillwater, Covanta Energy, Keep Oklahoma Beautiful, OGE Energy Corp., SWANA Indian Nations Chapter, Ardmore Beautification Council and Natural Evolution, Inc.

Please address any questions to info@recycleok.org

Sustainable Shawnee's 6th Annual Tapas at Twilight Local Foods Dinner

6th Annual Tapas at Twilight Local Foods Dinner was a great success as always with over 125 people in attendance. Thanks go out to Harvest Creek Farms, Personal Chef Jennifer Goodson, Gliorio's Resataurant, Olde Owl Shoppe, Giorgio's Pizza, Kim's Place, Saving Pets At Risk (SPAR) and the Bricktown Brewery for their wonderful food and support for this event. Thank you for attending again this year and we look forward to seeing everyone again in 2015!

Electronic Recycling Event in Shawnee

An Electonic Recycling Event is coming up in Shawnee! Shawnee's Senior Citizen's Center is hosting the event on Saturday, July 19th at their location on Bell St. Please share widely and support this fundraising event for the Senior Center.

Sustainable Shawnee Blogs for the Shawnee News-Star

Cody Deem and Shawna Turner are blogging for the Shawnee News-Star! The blog is called Sprouts and covers a variety of environmental and green living topics.

Here's a sample of what's featured this week:

If you peep into most household recycling bins, you'll find that much of the waste is plastic bottles - water bottles, soda bottles, milk jugs, etc. I know I feel very proud of myself when I recycle most of the plastic I use but I could do a lot more in the area of reducing my plastic usage and making smarter consumer choices.

 

I'm sure I don't have to tell you about the vast island of plastic floating in the Pacific Ocean and how it got there. The impact of our collective wasteful behavior is profound to say the least but we can reduce the amount of plastic that ultimately ends up in the landfill or the ocean.

 

Interested? Read more at : http://www.news-star.com/article/20140702/blogs/140639960/1389

 

We write a couple of articles every week so check back and leave a comment. We'd love to hear from you!

Recycling for Pottawatomie County Residents

Do you live in the county? Do you wish you still had access to the Recycling Center Drop Off Bins formerly at Homeland? Then here's what you do. Call or email your county commissioner and request funding a recycling drop off center for the county residents' use.

Call:

Melissa Dennis, District 1 Commissioner (405) 273-1564

Randy Houser Thomas, District 2 Commissioner (405) 598-2046Eddie Stackhouse, District 3 Commissioner (405) 275-9753

Email:

pott-cocomm@sbcglobal.net

Sustainable Shawnee formally requested that the county enter into negotiations with Central Disposal to locate and fund one drop off center to recycle glass, paper, cardboard, plastic and metal at the April 30^th meeting. The rest is up to you. Together we can make this happen but those of you living in the county MUST call and email. Thank you!!

And There They Sit.....

And there they sit.... Please encourage your friends, neighbors and family to bring their recycling bins up to the house from the street. Many people have no idea why the bins are there or know that they now belong to them. Take a minute to explain the program to folks that may not be aware. It will be a great help to the community as we begin curbside recycling in Shawnee. Thank you.

Curbside Recycling Begins in Shawnee!

After many years of effort on the part of Sustainable Shawnee and others, curbside recycling is underway! The blue bins are being delivered this week (February 24-28th) and the first recycling pick up is scheduled for Monday, March 3rd.

Here are some facts you need to know for next week:

• Place your recycling bin next to your trash polycart on your regularly scheduled pick up day. Recycling and trash will be picked up on the same day.
• Washing out food cans or bottles is optional but recommended especially during the summer months.
• Cardboard and Glass can be recycled at the Central Disposal Drop-off Center (45th and Railroad tracks), 9am-5pm, M-F
• Paper, Cardboard and Metals can be taken for recycling to the Faith 7 Center located at 301 S. Kennedy, 8:30-2pm, M-F. The large blue roll-off containers will be placed there. Call 275-4223 for more information.
• The drop off center located at Homeland on Kickapoo and Independence will close on March 1st.
• For households with 1-3 people, call Central Disposal and ask for a smaller trash polycart. They will deliver the bin to your house at no cost and you will save $3.00/month on your bill making curbside recycling free for you!

More additional details on what exactly to recycle and other information, visit http://www.shawneeok.org/PublicWorks/Sanitation/curbside.asp.

Thank you for your support and let's get started recycling!

Shawnee Creek: The Path No Longer Travelled

Jim Kinnamon of Shawnee Proud, Pott. County Strong gave us an inspiring presentation of his vision for Shawnee Creek. With Mayor Mainord, Commissioner Harrod and representation from the City Planning Department present, we heard about the history of this forgotten area of Shawnee and how we might envision it's future.

Mr. Kinnamon described waterfalls, flocks of turkeys, wooded areas and beauty places of all kinds along the railroad tracks between the Shawnee Mall and downtown. "Why do people travel to Arkansas when they have something like this here?" Jim asked the audience. Much of the creek and the adjacent "Old Katy Line" was long ago abandoned by the railroad but much clean up is required to make the area accessible to the community. "I'd like to see mountain bike and walking trails along with recreational areas for everyone to use. What's holding us back is the fact that many residents use the creek to dump trash and the need for money to do proper clean up. We have the volunteers but the cost of renting the clearing equipment is $863/day." He is in talks with the Avedis Foundation and others to find the money to get the work done. "The City of Shawnee has been a great partner but they can't do everything. We need to do our part, too."

Sustainable Shawnee will be organizing a walk in March for its members and interested parties to join Mr. Kinnamon to see all that Shawnee Creek has to offer. The date is not yet set but will be advertised. "Shawnee has a great deal more to offer than we are presently enjoying," said Shawna Turner, President of Sustainable Shawnee. "We look forward to working with Jim and the City of Shawnee to make our community a more attractive and healthier place to live."

Jim concluded his talk by saying, "We have big dreams but we have to start somewhere." Indeed. Thanks to Jim and the Shawnee Chamber of Commerce for providing the AV equipment for the meeting. More to come....

Sustainable Shawnee Elects New Slate of Officers

Welcome to our 2014 Sustainable Shawnee Officers:

 

Shawna Turner, President
Cody Deem, Vice President
Shelby Shackelford, Secretary
Carole Turner, Treasurer

2014 is going to be a great year for community life in Shawnee. Curbside Recycling will begin across the city on March 1st. Sustainable Shawnee will be working with the City and Central Disposal to help get the word out about the program and encourage participation. We'll start off the year with a presentation on Multi-Purpose Trail opportunities for Shawnee scheduled for February 13th. I think we'll be suprised just how many scenic areas Shawnee has and what the opportunities for hiking, biking and walking in our area. Finally there's a great deal of interest in community gardening and nutrition! We hope to expand our garden as well as aid in opening another in Shawnee this year. There's a lot of good work to be done.

I invite our members to serve on a steering committee for one of the three activities I've mentioned above:

Curbside Recycling Education
Community Multi-Purpose Trails
Community Gardening

Email us at sustainableshawnee@gmail.com to volunteer or with questions about the upcoming year. Thank you for your continued support!