A man on a mission

A recycling program for the downtown district of Grand Forks has been nearly nonexistent until now. UND Geography major Robert Deringer, 22, noticed the lack of recycling outlets in downtown Grand Forks and took it upon himself to start a program.

Although Country Home magazine ranks the city of Grand Forks 52nd in the nation for going "green", Deringer says the whole city benefits from recycling programs - except for the downtown area.

"The problem downtown is the sheer volume of materials that bars alone are not able to recycle. Some of the bars can fill up one dumpster in a single night - about 300-400 pounds. And these are all materials that could easily be recycled," he said. Deringer began this program informally last year getting his friends and people within his living complex to recycle. It wasn't until recently that he decided to open up the program downtown as well. Funding the plan on his own, Deringer has set up one location with four separate containers where community members and businesses can recycle their aluminum, plastics, glass, tin cans, and paper.

"I just wanted to give people in this area the opportunity to recycle if they choose to do so. It's there as one more option for them instead of just throwing their materials into the dumpsters."

Deringer notes that it takes about 70 percent less energy to create something from recycled materials rather than from scratch. Landfills have been an issue for Grand Forks in the past, and Deringer hopes that the recycling plan can help out, if not resolve, the issue.

"The City of Grand Forks website challenges us citizens to recycle 80 percent of our waste," he says, "But that's not an option for people living and conducting business downtown, and that should be corrected and reversed."

While the rest of Grand Forks has a bi-weekly recycling pick-up schedule, the downtown district does not have a recycling program in place, mainly due to space issues. Deringer agrees with the city that in general there is little space to run such a program, but thinks businesses would be willing to make changes.

"People want to see this program work. I think a lot of businesses would be very receptive to giving up certain areas to devote to placing recycling bins," he continues, "There are already some business owners talking to the city about it. This program will serve as a starting point for something bigger to hopefully happen in the future."

Pete Haga, spokesperson for the Grand Forks Mayor's office, is one of the main leaders for the Green Grand Forks initiative. Deringer has spoke with him about his main goal with this recycling program.

"We talked about the main goal just being to promote awareness. I want to get the word out that, 'yes, you can recycle downtown,'" Deringer said. "This is a major coordination effort that will give people who haven't recycled their whole lives the opportunity to do so."

Deringer also points out the importance that the program is an option for those who wish to participate.

"It's always better when someone is given the choice to do something, instead of being forced into doing it. My program is giving people the chance the make a decision for themselves," he says. All of the data and materials collected during this program will be weighed and included in the total of the Grand Forks recycle bowl. Deringer's project will continue throughout the remainder of the calendar year. However, with graduation facing him in December, Deringer notes that he hopes someone will take over his independent project for him once he leaves.