Retired Fairbanks veterinarian leads recycling commission

From The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Monday, June 28, 2010:

Fairbanks puts almost all its paper, glass and plastic in the trash. Karl Monetti dares you to come up alternatives — convince him and six other commissioners that you can recycle at a sustained level, and public managers might give you the green light. Help local government cut waste-management costs in the process, and you could get paid. 

The seven — comprising Fairbanks’ six-month-old public Recycling Commission — have been meeting every few weeks downtown. But the group has heard only two proposals, and members are ready to get to work. 

The group has plenty to do — public education curricula to draft, perhaps, and a budget to address for sure. 

But Monetti said his big hope is to see one successful commercial recycling project within the year. Maybe someone could open a business shredding paper to make insulation, as is done in Anchorage, or crush glass for use in construction materials. Just one success story could spark something bigger, said Monetti, the commission’s chairman.