Upper St. Clair Participating in South Hills Recycling Contest

Upper St. Clair and other South Hills municipalities are participating in a yearlong competition to increase residential recycling.

"We have a great opportunity to showcase our township while reinforcing our commitment to a sustainable lifestyle," said . "Everyone is encouraged to contribute to a winning effort and top last year's combined recycle tonnage."

Andrew Baram, a Mount Lebanon resident and member of its Waste Reduction Committee, helped organize the contest.

“I am just one of those people who truly believes in recycling,” said Baram, whose family of four generates less than a bag of trash a week.

He said he sees varying degrees of recycling around – from fervent recyclers to those who don’t bother.

But most people try, he said, though some people may not be aware of how easy it is to do so now that single-stream recycling has been in place for a couple years. That means residents don’t have to sort materials.

A contest would be a good way to spread the recycling gospel, Baram figured.

Participating communities will be judged in two categories for which prizes - trophies made of recycled material - will be given out, according to Baram:

* largest percentage increase in residential recycling compared to last year.

* largest increase in residential tonnage over last year.

Mount Lebanon is coordinating the program. The following municipalities are also competing: Baldwin, Brentwood, Dormont Jefferson Hills, Peters, Pleasant Hills, Scott and South Park.

The communities work with Waste Management, Allied Waste and Greenstar Recycling, Baram said.

Baram said the contest is friendly, with the only real stakes bragging rights and, hopefully, a reduction in recyclable materials sent to landfills.

“While we want to be selfish and win this thing, truly, everybody wins,” Baram said.

You can learn more about Upper St. Clair recycling program by clicking here.