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Tony Cristofich, Charlie Cameron and Karen Koerner after unloading recyclables from the Lakehills. The RecycleMobile was designed and built with support by an H-E-B Community Recycling Grant (H-E-B Central Market @HEB) in cooperation with Keep Texas Beautiful (@keeptxbeautiful) and #keeptexasrecycling.

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September 13, 2024

Trash Talk: Celebrating Recycling Volunteers

By Robert Brischetto
Don’t Make Waste Bandera

Let’s talk trash: the trash removed and/or recycled by volunteers who are saving Bandera County taxpayers money.
Don’t Make Waste Bandera (DMWB) volunteers over the past year and a half have:
  • Accepted 5,710 recycling drop-offs;
  • Put in 1,580 hours in sorting and baling; and
  • Obtained $16,000 in grants from H-E-B and KTB for equipment and repairs.
This volunteer effort has collected 50 tons of recyclables that would have otherwise gone into landfills:
  • 86 bales of cardboard (39 tons);
  • 39 bales of plastic bottles (3.3 tons); and
  • 24 bales of aluminum cans (7.7 tons).
For the 30 tons of recyclables that were sold to date, $6,570 was collected, and after shipping and handling costs, $5,514 was returned to the county to continue the recycling program. These 30 tons also saved the county an estimated $893 in landfill fees. More importantly, they saved the county’s environment:
  • 506 trees;
  • 122,039 KwHrs;
  • 208,390 gals of water;
  • 98 cu yds landfill; and
  • 1,345 lbs of air pollution
With the help of Keep Texas Recycling, DMWB received an H-E-B grant to design and build a RECYCLEmobile to collect, separate and transport recyclables from Lakehills to the Mansfield recycling center.  Volunteers are now working Saturday, 9 a.m. to noon, and 1-4 p.m. at the Lakehills solid waste site (105 Ohio Ave.)
There was always the problem of repairs of the county equipment for baling the recycled materials. DMWB obtained a $5,000 grant from Keep Texas Beautiful to repair the balers and a $500 donation from the Bandera Electric Coop to purchase a pallet jack to move the bales.
More than 50 volunteers were responsible for recycling will be appreciated in an event in the beer garden at The Brewery in Bandera on Sept. 15, 3-5 p.m.
For details on the event email [email protected]