Special Thanks to our Neighbor Ramona!!!

This past Saturday, June 27, we had to be out of town for work and our neighbor Ramona and her family jumped in to collect the recycling. We really appreciate the help and hope that there were many participants over the weekend. It's great to know we live in a place where people are willing to lend a helping hand and that a quick phone call is all that it takes. (On a side note, it could be a worthwhile project to collect names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses of those who would like to participate in a neighborhood directory. Please make comment about this idea and your thoughts on whether or not you would like to participate.)

Next weekend is the 4th of July and we will, again, be out of town for this festive occasion. We hope that everyone has a great 4th and if anyone has any local gatherings they would like to invite others in the neighborhood to please let us know and we can make a posting regarding the event.

Please don't forget that the dates for summer recycling pick up are listed in the blog posting below. Our next pick up date is Saturday, July 11th. Also, you can still sign up to receive email notifications about when the blog is updated. Just send an email to GrandRidgeForest@gmail.com and let us know that you would like to be added to the mailing list.

Have a great week and a great July 4th weekend!

DJ, Mara, and Eli

Upcoming Dates for Summer 2009

It's sad to say but I'm grossly behind in posting and working on neighborhood activities. If you or your family are like us the summer time - with its excessive heat and humidity, necessary yard work, and increasing travel schedule - is anything but a slower time of the year. Despite this fact we still see good participation from residents in Grand Ridge Forest every other week when it comes to recycling.

Below you will find the dates for recycling pick up throughout the rest of the summer months, but before I get to that a few comments on important things to remember and potential actions to take:

Almost everyone who participates in the recycling efforts of the neighborhood does so according to the guidelines that we outlined in an earlier post (see below). However, a few have forgotten some important details.

• The recycling center will not accept glass. We've looked into alternatives for this but at this point glass is not an option. Please refrain from including glass in your bags.
• Items must be separated into like kind containers (preferably bags or boxes that can be left at the recycling center). This means a single bag with plastic bottles, aluminum cans, and paper materials is not ok. Please help us to make the recycling efforts effective and beneficial by not putting all of your recycling items in one bag. At the end of the day it means that we have to sort through your bags to separate the plastic, paper, and aluminum - not a fun task.
• Please use plastic bags or boxes that are sealed well and can be left at the recycling center. At this point it is too complicated to try to remember who has bags or containers that need to be returned.

If we can work together to follow these simple guidelines and continue to recycle the items that are acceptable by the City of Wetumpka Recycling Center this will greatly improve the efforts we are making. I wish I had a good estimate on the amount of goods we have recycled in the last few months (don't have any way to measure the weight), but each Saturday that we've gathered bags curbside by your homes we've ended up with a truck bed full of items. I think this is a great accomplishment in the short time we've all been working on this.

I'd like to urge you to consider making our efforts even greater. Take a few minutes to sign up for email updates at GrandRidgeForest@gmail.com and speak to your neighbors and friends about participating if they are not already. We would love to see the demand for recycling increase to a level that it needs to be done weekly or we have to make multiple trips to gather all of the goods. Chat with a neighbor during the weekend or an evening and remind them of our efforts and ask them to submit and email to receive occasional updates about recycling and other neighborhood activities. Without a doubt a friendly face can make more of an impact than a flier, email, or sign on the side of the road.

If you have suggestions for moving forward additional projects or gatherings please jump in an make yourself heard. We would love to see someone who has a desire to help coordinate a neighborhood event, visit neighbors on their street to collect email addresses, or help organize other activities that we could do to get better acquainted with one another.

I hope to write again soon, but for now here are the dates for upcoming recycling pickup. All days are Saturday and the time for pick up is around 10:00 AM.

• June 27
• July 11
• July 25
• August 8
• August 22

Best Regards to Everyone,

DJ, Mara, and Eli