The Tennessee Environmental Council selected Clarksville as one of 10 locations throughout the state for its Recycling Roundup events, and it all dovetails with broader efforts to clear Clarksville of accumulated litter as warmer Springlike weather begins to move in.
Local residents are encouraged to bring their hard-to-recycle items to a “Recycling Roundup” event coming to the Clarksville Campus of Nashville State Community College, on Saturday March 4, from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Residents may bring electronics, tires, certain appliances, scrap metal, textiles, mattresses, sheets of Styrofoam, and more. Visit tectn.org/recyclingroundup for a detailed list of materials that will be accepted at the event.
Carlye Sommers and Bill Harpel, who are advisors to the City of Clarksville’s Sustainability Board, helped to coordinate the local recycling event.
“In late 2022, we submitted an application to TEC for a Recycling Roundup. We knew this would be a great opportunity for the citizens of Clarksville to dispose of hard-to-recycle items in a sustainable manner,” Sommers said.
“We were thrilled when we found out Clarksville had been selected as one of the ten communities for the 2023 Recycling Roundups and have enjoyed the opportunity to work with TEC on the planning of this event,” she said.
TEC is a statewide non-profit organization whose goal with these events is to reduce illegal dumping and litter across Tennessee, while reducing the public’s reliance on landfills.
This program is free and open to all residents and is made possible by an environmental justice grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Additional events will take place this year in Camden, Charleston, Hornbeak, Jackson, Memphis, Ripley, Robbins and Rutledge, the organization said in its own broadly distributed news release.
“We all have stuff collecting in our sheds, garages and closets, and so much of these materials can be recycled, creating local jobs and helping our environment,” said Jeffrey Barrie, CEO of TEC.
“This roundup event is a convenient way for local households to put valuable materials back into the economy,” Barrie said.
Looking more broadly, even beyond the household setting, Clarksville Mayor Joe Pitts said there are opportunities with the event to clean up and clear Clarksville’s roadsides and ravines of unsightly trash and recycle any finds that are specified on the Recycling Roundup list.
“As our city grows, we are experiencing more trash on the roadways. I encourage city residents to join forces with their neighbors, civic or church groups, work colleagues and family, and find a stretch of road that could use some attention,” Mayor Pitts said.
“Our Street Department does a wonderful job but with more than 800 miles of road in our city, they cannot do it alone. We also have an Adopt-A-Street program that will designate a section of road for cleanup by a group or individual. Please help us keep our beautiful city clean.”
