Are you moving to the city of Detroit and wondering about recycling? Do you already live here and decided to get on the green-friendly wagon (a fuel efficient one of course) and help the environment? Or do you just want to recycle for the fun of it? Well, Booya!----the city of Detroit does not offer curbside recycling pickup to anyone (at least it’s a non-discriminatory policy). But just because you never see any recycling bins lining the streets on Tuesday mornings (or whenever) does not mean that Detroiters don’t recycle.

While there is no curbside recycling, the city does have a drop-off center near its massive trash incinerator on E. Ferry Street, west of Palmer, a.k.a. Chene-Ferry. No, you didn’t misread, if you want to recycle you must haul your recyclables in your car, past the end of your driveway, and downtown (hey, it’s the Motor City – Drive It, Love It). Frustrated with the lack of recycling options for urbanites, a few Detroiters organized some “get up and get involved” grassroots recycling operations.

Sarah Kubik is one of those Detroiters. A recycling crusader, Kubik founded Recycle Midtown, an organization dedicated to making recycling more convenient for the Midtown area. Kubik became passionate about recycling after she did an internship for the Ecology Center and around the same time, became enlightened on environmental justice policies. “I got into recycling because it made sense, recycling should be a habit, but it’s hard to convince people to take the time to do it,” Kubik said. So she (and others) founded Recycle Midtown, but still had to iron out some of the logistical problems like where to haul the stuff and what to haul it in.

Fortunately she stumbled upon another Detroiter who had the answer. Walking home one night Kubik spotted a vehicle with the word “Recy-clean” on the side and approached the driver in his driveway for the lowdown. In the Cass Corridor. Gutsy? No….passionate and driven.

“She came to me with an idea and didn’t know how to make it happen,” said Matt Naimi, Director of Operations for Recy-clean, a recycling company that only operates within the city limits. Naimi not only had the know-how and wheels to aid Kubik in her recycling endeavor, but he lived in Midtown and wanted to see recycling become successful in Detroit. So he partnered up with Kubik to collect, haul, and find end markets for the recyclables that are brought to the drop off site. “The best way to make money with waste removal is to recycle,” Naimi said. And he should know, he was involved with waste management for some time and became interested in the benefits of recycling during his experience with it.

Both Naimi and Kubik want recycling in Detroit to become a habit and hope residents will get involved in making their city greener. “Residents need to come forward and take over because the city won’t do it, but we need funding if recycling is going to work,” Naimi said. “Just because there is no curbside pickup, shouldn’t stop you from recycling,” Naimi added. And on that note, mark your calendar that Recycle Midtown picks up recyclables on the second Saturday of each month between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. at 4444 Second Avenue near The Bronx. Affectionately known as “The Second Saturday on Second Avenue.” Yep, you gotta motor your stuff over there too (remember: Drive It, Love It).

Kubik hopes that Recy-clean will develop into the recycling transfer station for the whole city and plans on expanding her idea to the Wayne State campus which only recycles 10% of its paper material. “We are all given choices, it’s up to us to make sure the environment is good for the next generation,” said Kubik.

So, while we don’t have shiny blue or green recycle bins yet, there are alternatives Detroiters: Get in your car and recycle your stuff on “The Second Saturday on Second Avenue” (say ‘hello’ to Sarah for us). And note that all of the recycling programs in Detroit (see below) are available to the public, easily accessible, and run by cool people who care about Detroit. And by that I mean: No more excuses, go recycle your stuff, it’s easy. (Should I remind you of Drive It, Love It? --- didn’t think so).

Who: Recycle Midtown accepts paper, metal, certain types of plastic materials, glass, household batteries and Styrofoam (make sure everything is cleaned out!)
When: The second Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Where: 4444 Second Avenue (look for The Bronx Bar).
Visit www.Midtowndowntown.com.

Who: Rosedale Recycles accepts newspapers, magazines, catalogs, telephone books, cardboard, certain types of plastic materials, tin cans, aluminum, many metals, clear and brown glass and Styrofoam (clean your stuff out before dropping it off!)
When: The third Saturday of each month
Where: Christ the King parking lot at 16805 Pierson St.
The group can be reached by emailing rr@igc.org.

Who: Corktown Recycles takes newspapers, magazines, telephone books, office paper, batteries, glass, tin cans, all kinds of metals and plastic bags, on the third Saturday of each month at Michigan and 14th Street. (Don’t be a sloth, clean your stuff out, it takes 5 minutes!)
When: The third Saturday of every month between the hours of 10 am & 2 pm.
Where: CPA Building @ 14th & Michigan Ave. In the parking lot off the alley between 15th and 14th. Easiest to enter from 15th.
Check them out here.

Who: Recycle America – Southfield
When: Drop off bins open 24/7! The handy alternative for people who can't work their busy lives around the recyclers' schedules.
Where: NE corner of 8 mile and Evergreen in Southfield.

Now, ever wonder why there is no curbside recycling in Detroit? City can’t afford it? Lack of funds? No tax base? City has bigger fish to fry? Well, the answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind. . . so stay tuned for the next installment: Motor City Recycling: Trash and Burn.

Susie Meredith also contributed to this month's lit section.