Those in the community interested in recycling met at the Murray County Industrial Authority offices last week to discuss ways to begin a recycling program in the county.

Chickasaw National Recreation Area has already begun its recycling program and Keith Murray, a Ranger at the park, spoke about what needs to be done and what the park is doing.

"I have talked to people at other national parks about what they have been doing and they said the program has to be tailored to this area and its needs," he said. "The program will have to also expand and evolve as we figure out what is working and what isn't working. At the park, we have a recycling trailer at Buckhorn Lake and we accept aluminum cans and plastics. There are 10 containers there and we also have containers in our offices for paper and aluminum cans."

Murray said he has visited the recycling center in Ada.

"They mainly do paper products and they are finally beginning to break even or are at least close to breaking even," he explained. "They do accept most types of products, except glass."

Murray also said there is a recyclables operation in Oklahoma City that will come and pick up the recyclables as long as they are bailed, which would require the city or county to buy a bailer. He said there are funding sources to help with cost of recycling.

"The Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality offers grants that can be used for equipment. The grants cover 25 percent of the cost of setting up a recycling operation up to $20,000," Murray said.

The Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality sponsors America Recycles Day (ARD) in Oklahoma on Nov. 15. ARD is a nationwide public education and outreach campaign aimed at focusing attention on the importance of recycling and buying recycled products.

The Oklahoma Recycles Day committee would like to encourage citizens to "Make Every Day America Recycles Day."

The Oklahoma DEQ has developed an informational recycling packet. It is filled with information to educate and encourage citizens to go out and start recycling and buying recycled products.

Bruce Noble, superintendent of the park, said he would like to see the county place a transfer station for people to bring their recyclables.

"We need to develop a mindset in the community that we are going to drop off our trash and recyclables somewhere else," he said.

Bill Holley, Sulphur City Manager, said it is very expensive to buy a compactor to crush the recyclables.

"Duncan and Durant both have transfer stations and that alternative is worth exploring, but I feel it needs to be done on a regional basis with both the cities and the county involved," he said.

Noble cautioned the group attending the meeting that they need to start thinking about taking small steps in their recycling plans to get started.

Holley also talked about getting civic groups and the schools involved in Adopt-A-Road Programs.

Any group or civic organization in the county can adopt a stretch of highway that they can clean up on a yearly basis," he noted.

The group will come up with a name for itself and then begin the process of applying for grants for equipment to help start the recycling program..

Currently, O'Reilly Auto Parts in Sulphur is recycling motor oil and batteries for those who change their own oil. Oil and old tires can be brought to them any day of the week to have them recycled.

The Chickasaw Nation received a grant for containers in Ada and the group will be contacting them to see if they can assist with the writing of grants. The group was told that multi-jurisdictional grants (those involving cities, schools and counties, add points to the grant, which can make the likelihood of the grant application being approved better.

Kim Little, of the Murray County Industrial Authority, said the group needs to do three things to get started.

"We need to form a Green Coalition to apply for the grants. Then we need to establish drop off or disbursement points and then we have to decide what we are going to accept for recycling," she explained.

The group also decided to have Fenton Rude, from the Oklahoma DEQ, come to town to speak on how to start a recycling program and how the state can help with such an operation start up and the costs associated with this type of operation.

"The challenge was a total of $1,000 pledged by them to see who can get the most volunteers to pick up litter. The club with the most volunteers gets $600 and the other club gets $400.

Sondra Webb, Davis City Manager, said that the Davis and Sulphur Key Clubs have adopted highways in their communities and are also involved in a challenge to pick up litter issued by Senator Johnnie Crutchfield and Representative Wes Hilliard.