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Fort gets greener for Earth Day

It was the official grand opening of the new recycling facility in Fort St. James on April 22
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Lynn George of GUF gives a talk to the crowd gathered for the grand opening of the Integris Recycling Centre.

It was a dreary day outside, but everyone inside the new Integris Recycling Centre was all smiles Sunday.

It was the official grand opening of the new facility in Fort St. James on April 22, and one the Greening Up Fort St. James Society (GUF) has been working towards since 2008.

It all started with an idea.

Colleen Mullen, who has since moved to Merritt, called the first meeting of the group on Dec. 3, 2008, to look at ways to make Fort St. James more sustainable.

In July 2010, the group conducted a survey in Fort St. James and the surrounding region and got some clear indications of people’s priorities.

Their results indicated 87 per cent of people surveyed would recycle cardboard if the facilities existed, and 83 per cent would recycle mixed paper.

They then secured funding for recycling bins and had the bins delivered in the fall of 2010.

Since the bins have been in place, GUF has diverted 100 metric tons of waste from the area landfill, which is more than the weight of a space shuttle, according to the display the group put together for the grand opening of the centre.

So, with a lot of hard work and some great support from the community - not to mention some significant donations from Integris Credit Union and the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako - the dream to open a recycling centre became a reality recently.

In just two months of this year, with the recycling centre building in place, the group has already diverted nine metric tons from the landfill, which they approximate to be the mass of 40 grizzly bears.

A small crowd had gathered for the event to mark the opening, and Louise Evans-Salt, a GUF board member, gave a short speech acknowledging all the hard work of those in the society and the great strides the group had made in helping make Fort St. James more sustainable. She also acknowledged the great contribution of Riverside’s Arlan Gainor helping transport their new bails to Prince George.

Lynn George, also a GUF board member, then spoke about how the recycling centre came to be, noting the hiccups along the road when it was first being built, and showed off the display the group had set up to show the evolution of the society and recycling in the Fort.

She then demonstrated their new bailer for the audience which compacts the recyclables into tight bails to make shipping more cost-effective for the group.

The event was not only well-attended, but it was also a feast of delicious snacks and to make it even greener, the group did not serve disposable cups, but instead had cups of their own for those who forgot a travel mug, showing this is a group practicing what they preach.

Many of the GUF members then had a break before heading over to the Fort St. James Historic Park to help clean up the beach, once again demonstrating their dedication to the community and the environment.