14 March 4, 2011 90% OF BUYERS UTILIZE THE INTERNET TO FIND THEIR PROPERTY If you are serious about selling your property in 2011, it’s time to ask your listing broker exactly how they are going to be marketing the property. Montana YOUR HOME IS IN JEFF HELMS <strong>Big</strong> <strong>Sky</strong> Sotheby’s International Realty 123 Lone Peak Drive <strong>Big</strong> <strong>Sky</strong>, Montana 59716 tel 406.995.2244 cell 406.539.0121 jeff.helms@sothebysrealty.com big <strong>Sky</strong> Weekly sothebysrealty.com represents the starting point of a comprehensive online marketing strategy that expands the exposure of your property to the most significant media companies and real-estate focused websites in the world.
Until the mid-1960s, American soda and beer drinkers returned glass bottles in exchange for a deposit. Coke began selling “no-deposit” bottles in 1967—bottles not meant to be returned. Oregon’s 1972 “bottle bill” was the first of its kind, and required consumers to pay a deposit on cans and bottles, redeemable upon return. Other forward thinking states soon followed, essentially paying people to recycle and reducing litter by more than half. Today, the Coors factory in Golden, Colorado is the closest facility to Montana that recycles glass – actually melting it down and turning it back into glass. Since 2008, Livingston, Montana has pulverized its old glass for use in trail and road projects. Until a few years ago, Bozeman did the same, using it for civic projects and then as a landfill drainage cover. Now in the Gallatin Valley, residents throw used glass in the trash or pay private companies to haul it to Livingston. Seem backward? That’s what a group of concerned Bozemanites thought, too. “We were frustrated,” says Michelle Gantt, cofounder of the Gallatin Zero Waste Coalition (GZWC). The group came together almost two years ago, in an effort to create a glass recycling program in Bozeman. On April 16 this year, GZWC will hold their second annual glass recycling event. Coinciding with Gallatin Earth Celebration Clean-up Day, the collection will be in the Fairgrounds parking lot in Bozeman. GZWC is encouraging people to start saving glass now for the drop off. Last year, the group collected 21 tons of glass. Full Circle Recycling, a private recycling company based in Four Corners, carted the glass to Livingston’s pulverizer. Donations covered the cost of crushing, and Full Circle didn’t charge for manpower or equipment use. Glass is 100 percent recyclable, but it’s difficult to deal with because it breaks, is heavy, has little value, and the process is expensive. While bottle factories can melt down and truly recycle glass, pulverizers like Livingston “downcycle” the material, turning it into aggregate and reusing it. Montana is still trying to establish recycling infrastructure, in general. In terms of glass, the Montana DEQ says the state doesn’t produce enough consumer glass to be an effective source for a “full scale” recycling program. Not having a nearby bottling plant would then require shipping glass out of state to be recycled – an expensive prospect, especially considering glass’ primary ingredient is silica, one of the most abundant minerals. In an effort to reduce all kinds of waste, the Gallatin Zero Waste Coalition has expanded beyond glass. At a Gallatin County Solid Waste Board meeting in February, the Coalition proposed creating a “Waste Reduction Task Force.” GZWC envisions this group would be made up of citizen experts and solid waste board members. Gantt says, “The task force could spend time researching new waste reduction efforts, providing education and outreach and working on other projects that would be beneficial to the solid waste board and the community.” big <strong>Sky</strong> Weekly Gallatin Zero Waste Coalition is Expanding Join the group for its second annual glass recycling day by eMily StiFler SuStainable living GlaSS faCtS from mt.gov/recycle/glass • glass constituted 5.5 percent of the u.S. municipal solid waste stream by weight and 1.5 percent by volume. an estimated generation of glass for Montana in 2007 was 47,893 tons. • glass is heavy and weighs 2,800 lbs per yard. • all glass food and beverage containers can be recycled. iMpaCtS froM rECYClinG recycled savings per consumed Product Recovered Glass BTUs Oil Greenhouse Gases optionS for GlaSS rECYClinG: Private companies like full Circle recycling, J & K recyclers, triple r recycling and Gone Green offer curbside recycling services. as part of a national program, target collects glass with other recyclables, then transports it to the closest distribution center – ours is in albany, oregon. Form a neighborhood collection, and then send a truck once a month to the livingston pulverizing facility. Gallatin Zero Waste Coalition’s april 16 Glass recycling Collection at the Fairgrounds. For more information or to get in touch with gZWc, find them on Facebook. headwaters recycling Cooperative headwatersrecycle.com Trees Electricity Water Landfill Diversion Tons Millions Barrels Tons Count KWh Gallons Dollars 3,000 10,799 1,982 320 51,000 12,300,000 21,000,000 111,000 10,000 35,996 6,605 1,066 170,000 41,000,000 70,000,000 370,000 mt.gov/recycle/glass March 4, 2011 15
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