It has been a year since the Downtown Auburn BID introduced its Recycle Downtown Program. Throughout that year, the Downtown Auburn Business Improvement District has been working with the city of Auburn to encourage and to make it easier for all the BID businesses to recycle on trash day to help reduce what goes into the waste stream.

BID would like to thank all the businesses that have participated and have started to recycle more. You have made this program a success.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind our BID businesses and the community as well of the recycling guidelines.

The guidelines are quite simple. Recyclable items must be put out on the corresponding weeks according to the City of Auburn's Streamline Schedule. These schedules can be found online at auburnny.virtualtownhall.net and searching for “streamline,” by calling Solid Waste Management at 252-6441 or business owners may pick up a copy at the BID office. We also have it in pdf format.

If your business produces a great deal of recyclable waste and you need to dispose of it sooner than every five weeks, you can bring it to the city dump free of charge during the hours of 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Auburn recycles the following items: plastic, glass, metal, cardboard and newspapers. Taking these items out of the waste stream greatly reduces the amount of garbage that needs to be put out each week and creates less of a strain on our landfill.

Cardboard is the newest addition to the recycle stream in Auburn. Most of our downtown businesses have gotten the hand of recycling cardboard, but here is a reminder on how the cardboard must be prepared in order for the city to pick it up:

€ It must be flattened

€ Corrugated boxes, paper grocery bags, boxes such as cereal, cracker, cake mixes, pasta, shoe and tissue boxes and paper egg cartons can be recycled

€ Wax or paper coated boxes, plastic liners, leftover food boxes from wet food, such as ice cream or frozen food cannot be recycled

In an effort to recognize those who actively try and recycle and continually put out garbage for pick up in the correct manner, the BID will be issuing a Recycle Downtown! Award at our annual State of Downtown Luncheon to be held Wednesday, July 11, at the Holiday Inn.

If you are interested in more information on recycling in downtown Auburn, call the BID office at 252-7874 or the Solid Waste Department at 252-6441. We would be happy to come by your business and discuss specific issues that pertain to your trash and recycling needs.

Remember that the garbage cans that are on-street are not to be used by businesses disposing of their garbage. The garbage cans are not big enough to handle that much waste and it creates a severe problem with trash blowing around in the downtown area.

We are making great strides in the appearance of downtown and keeping a handle on garbage and recyclables is just the next step. If you would like to take part in BID's Recycle Downtown! campaign, give us a call, and we will add you to our list of participants and provide you with an identifying poster.

Sandra Craner is executive director of the Downtown Auburn BID