The City of Evanston hosted its second annual Recycling Fair and Public Works Equipment Expo Saturday at Evanston Township High School, 1600 Dodge Ave. The Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County collected a variety of recyclable items, such as televisions, computer monitors, MP3 players, fax machines, paper, hangers, plastic bags, CFL light bulbs and batteries.
Michelle Cain, the executive secretary of the director of public works, said the city decided to host the event to “ensure that (Evanston)’s a green and healthy city.”
“We kind of throw this event to keep the residents abreast of all the things that the city does, including community organization and letting people know about all of the wonderful options to use for recycling items,” Cain said.
She also said the city will continue the fair in the coming years, if Evanston residents enjoy it.
To recycle large objects regularly, Cain said she recommends Evanston residents call SWANCC or call 311 to schedule a special pickup with the city. The traffic for the fair, guided by the city’s Community Emergency Response Team, wound around a couple blocks before reaching ETHS. CERT member Charlene Bos said many people lined up early, so before the fair’s starting time at 9 a.m., CERT was already assisting with traffic.
Evanston resident Marilyn Bouriuuot waited in line for more than 30 minutes before donating two televisions, two monitors and a printer.
“The line’s too long, but it’s going fast,” Bouriuuot said. “They need to have this (fair) more than once a year.”
Evanston residents Adam and Ina Jakush chose to walk their items over, bypassing many cars waiting their turn.
“We drove by and realized, ‘This line is so long that you’re going to basically waste the amount of gas that you would have saved by recycling everything,’ so we just parked and walked,” Adam said.
Adam and Ina donated a laptop, plastic bags, batteries and hangers. Adam said the city’s decision to host the recycling fair is a start in the “right direction.”
“Obviously the long line of cars waiting is not the most positive sign,” Adam said. “I wish more people would have taken the initiative like us and just walk it over, but a lot of people have monitors and huge things that you can’t carry. But I think in general, Evanston is pushing in the right direction.”
