Going green on 16th Street Mall

By Sarah Langbein, Special to the Rocky

Published June 5, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Photo by Darin Mcgregor / The Rocky

Seen from inside a recycling bin, Pat Killian educates passers-by on the 16th Street Mall's recycling program Wednesday.

As the doors of 16th Street Mall shuttles closed Wednesday, riders heard more than the usual automated recording announcing the next stop.

"Please recycle," the drivers told them.

The gentle reminders came the same day that city leaders announced the launch of the 16th Street Mall Recycling initiative, which will put 10 bright yellow recycling bins along the mall route.

The recycling containers will allow users to pitch glass, cans and newspapers into the same receptacle. If the program is a success in its first year, leaders will consider expanding it to other parts of downtown.

"We believe its presence will be a consistent reminder to people to adopt greener habits," said Tamara Door, president and CEO of the Downtown Denver Partnership.

The initiative comes as Denver prepares for the Democratic National Convention, which Mayor John Hickenlooper says will be the "greenest convention in history."

He hopes that this latest green, or environmentally friendly, effort will help set the "Denver standard" for future convention sites, the mayor said Wednesday at a news conference.

"The key here is that green is the new patriotic color," he said.

Along with the 10 bins purchased by the Downtown Denver Business Improvement District, 90 trees and 100 flowering planters have been placed to spruce up the mall.

The goal is to create a better pedestrian environment so more people are likely to walk the mall instead of driving through downtown, Door said.

As a whole, the city is pushing to reduce landfill waste by 30 percent by 2012. Through residential and municipal recycling, the city has reached 13 percent, meaning that 26,750 tons of recyclable waste has been kept out of landfills, said Michele Weingarden, director of Greenprint Denver.

By the numbers

10 yellow, single-stream recycling bins placed along the 16th Street Mall.

16 city blocks make up the 16th Street Mall.

800 gallons of recyclable waste expected to be picked up from these containers each week.

• June 5, 2008

  10:16 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Ztliano writes:

  Okay, sounds good.

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