OROVILLE – Kyle Siekmann from Green Okanogan pled his case for recycling at last Thursday’s Oroville Chamber of Commerce meeting.

Siekmann, with AmeriCorp, talked of the efforts of GO, which has its non-profit recycling and reuse store south of Tonasket at 3 Rodeo Road.

“What we’d like to do is to get you thinking about recycling in Oroville,” said Sequin, who added that the amount of mixed paper and junk mail businesses handle adds up to a lot of waste that could easily be recycled at Green Okanogan.

The Oroville area currently has no where to drop off its recyclable items, other than some bins at the Transfer Station near Ellisforde.

“You guys are business owners, you’re important people, we’d like to see something developed where people could drop off their recyclables and someone would bring them down to Green Okanogan on a weekly or monthly basis,” he said.

When asked if Green Okanogan makes pick ups, Siekmann said they didn’t, only at the hospital and Beyer’s Market where there was a pre-existing agreement.

“Green Okanogan is an all volunteer operation, no one gets paid, so the materials would have to be brought to Tonasket,” he said.

Paul Neir, owner of Howling Dog Farms, asked if some kind of trailer could be parked in Oroville where people could take their recyclable items. It was suggested that such a trailer could have four to six bins where the different recyclables could be sorted by type – paper, plastics, cardboard, glass, etc.

“We have a compacter and bailer for cardboard at the center,” said Siekmann, “and we could supply you with ‘super sacks’ to place inside the bins.”

While the recycling center accepts glass, Siekmann admitted GO is having trouble finding some place that will accept it to recycle it.

“We are working on trying to ship it to Osoyoos where they do recycle it,” he said.

There was some discussion of seeking a grant to buy the trailer to be set up as a drop off point. Neir said he would look into the matter further and report back at a future Oroville Chamber meeting.

Green Okanogan is open on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Their hours of operation can be found at www.GreenOkanogan.org. Currently they accept aluminum, tin cans, various ferrous and non-ferrous metals, paper products and plastics. They also have an e-waste drop off for computers, televisions and other electronic items that can be recycled. Their Reuse Store sells recycled building materials and home goods, said Siekmann. A full list of what can be dropped off is on their website. GO can be contacted by phone at 509-486-0674 or by email at info@Greenokanogan.org.

“I want to see this happen, everyone wants to see it happen,” said Chamber President Clyde Andrews.

In other news, Andrews said that he and his wife Sandy, who manage the Camaray Motel, as well as owning Stateside Storage and Stateside Printing, have purchased the eight-unit Applewood Apartments on 16th and Ironwood.

“We bought another job,” said Andrews. “We are delighted to say the occupancy had depleted to four, and as of today is filled.”

Karen Beaudette and Daniel Klayton gave a brief report on their visit to the Revitalize Downtowns Workshop in Ritzville where various strategies for marketing and promoting an area’s Main Street were discussed.