Laguna Madre heeds Recycling Day

On Saturday Port Isabel and South Padre Island celebrated Texas Recycling Day with two events. Port Isabel hosted the grand opening of its new recycling center located adjacent to the police station at Railroad and South Shore Road. SPI hosted its first annual Recycle Land in the parking lot of the Island Baptist Church. Both events drew large crowds.

PI mayor Joe Vega presented a proclamation deeming November 15 as official Texas Recycling Day, asking all citizens “to join in activities that promote responsible environmental stewardship”.

“When we started our recycling program, we had only one container,” he said. “Now we have three and we’ve expanded the program to include the school district. We invite everyone, individuals and local businesses, to participate.”

The new recycling center is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 am to 4:00 pm and Saturdays from 8:00 am to noon.

Free reusable grocery bags were handed out and Girl Scout Troop 377 provided arts and crafts for the kids. Captain Crab helped spread the message about littering and the Derry Elementary School choir entertained guests.

Daniel Torres, a Port Isabel resident, arrived with a full bag of plastics to recycle. He said he and his family got in the habit of recycling when they lived in Garland so he was happy to see a recycling center here.

“We combine all our recyclables and bring them in monthly,” he said.“It saves a lot of space in the trash bins because they always fill up.”

The new recycling center is attracting residents from nearby towns as well. Sonia Harry lives on SPI and said she usually recycles there, but when the mobile unit isn’t available she comes to the PI location.

Laguna Vista resident Frank Nuckols said he would start recycling at the PI center.

“I’m glad to see we finally have a good center that will attract people and reduce our litter and waste,” he said.

Across the causeway many Island residents showed up with their recyclables to the first annual Recycle Land. Steve Phipps said he just started recycling and showed up with an enormous cardboard box brimming with plastics. He said it took six to eight months to fill the box.

“The mobile recycling unit is generously provided free of charge by Allied Waste,” said SPI Health Director Victor Baldovinos. “We’re working on a permanent site near the city training center.”

The mobile unit is available every first and third Saturday at the Island Baptist Church parking lot.

Local businesses were also on hand with exhibits. HEB and Wal-mart handed out free reusable grocery bags and Home Depot accepted florescent lights for recycling, to name a few.

Gianluca Ferrario, owner of SPI Go Green, had a booth educating the public about wind turbines and solar panels. He said he chose SPI for his company because research showed there was no market here for renewable energy. SPI Go Green also offers residential energy efficiency inspections.

One unique feature of the event was the plant swap started by SPI Gardens.

“It’s our signature event to celebrate Texas Recycling Day,” said Keep SPI Beautiful committee member Nancy Marsden.“It helps educate people about what grows on the Island and encourages them to create what we call green spots or habitats for birds and butterflies.”

Marsden said many people with yards deal with plant overgrowth by throwing them away. “Why do that when you can bring them here?” she said. The plant swap happens twice a year, once in the fall and once in May during Turtle Days.

12 year-old Orlando Rodriguez is a member of the Boys & Girls Club in Port Isabel. The kids received a field trip to the event and Rodriguez said he learned a lot.

“I learned how important it is to recycle so you can help the environment,” he said.“So far all I’d recycled was plastic Wal-mart bags, but I’m going to start recycling a lot more.”