About Victor Colorado

Dear Victorites and Friends of Victor:

As many of you know, a group of citizens here in town have taken the initiative to attempt to start a recycling center in Victor. I personally applaud these efforts. The benefits of recycling are obvious. A cleaner, healthier environment and an improved quality of life come to mind immediately but there are also other benefits that affect the community and they are potential jobs and light industry.

As you all know the Mining district has no landfills. All wastes generated here must be transferred to the south end of Colorado Springs or other locations. Generally that’s a minimum distance of 65 miles one way. When one looks at just the economics of transportation the costs become enormous and the consumer pays for it. My proposal is to evaluate those waste streams and determine if it’s possible to recycle on-site. In other words, alter the waste to make it a marketable commodity. Three possible and fairly easy businesses come to mind.

1. Composting

2. Newspaper

3. Glass

Composting: We all generate food waste and in particular the restaurants and schools. There are locations throughout the mining district that are lacking good soil amendment and therefore are not amenable to reclamation. The addition of this product would benefit the land, improve the native habitat, and certainly be an aesthetic improvement.

Newspaper: newspaper makes great insulation. The technology has been around for some time and is also known as cellulose fiber insulation. Simply made, the newspaper is shredded, a fire retardant is added and the insulation is blown into attics and walls. The r-rating is excellent and because it’s blown and finely shredded there is considerably fewer and smaller pore spaces therefore a tighter seal.

Glass: glass can be ground up. Coarse glass can be used for drainage pipe bedding and art. Finer ground glass can be used for sandboxes or filtration systems.

I encourage venture capitalists or citizens out there to consider these projects and jump on board. These projects will create sustainable industries and these are easy projects to develop. If you are employees of the mine, casino’s, or the schools encourage your employers to support these projects. Let your government officials know that you support such projects and let’s move toward a cleaner healthier environment.

Sincerely,

Gary Horton

Victor City Councilman

Watch Power Point Presentation

Victor Recycles!

Questionnaire Results

Dear Victorites,

Above you see the results of the questionnaire that was sent out. I thought response was pretty good considering it was the first, in my recollection and I hope not the last, survey of this type that we’ve attempted.

To cut to the chase, the salient points are as follows:

you kind of want the center in town but it isn’t necessary
the major recyclables are most desirable
cleanliness is the most important
you are willing to pay a modest fee but not much
curbside pickup is not necessary
You don’t want the city to operate it
It’s ok to use city property

So the next meeting will be in the first week of May and I’ll have costs for bear-proof bins, we’ll try and decide on a location, and organize the workers. Hope we get a good turn-out

Respectfully

Gary Horton

Questionnaire Results

In Town
Yes	22	50%
No	17	39%

types of recyclables
Paper	39	89%
Glass	32	73%
Plastic	33	75%
Cardboard	20	45%
Aluminum	32	73%
Metal	13	30%
Compostables	10	23%
Other	10	23%

Concerns
Smell	6	14%
Cleanliness	21	48%
Environmental	10	23%
other ( tossing trash, cost )	13	30%

Fees
Yes	33	75%
No	9	20%

Curbside Pickup
Yes	20	45%
No	19	43%

City Operated
Yes	9	20%
No	26	59%

Use City Property for Center
Yes	40	91%
No	4	9%

Total Respondents	44
Total Questionnaires	375

Percent Respondents	11.7%
Total respondents via web	16