Rossmoor Recycles Program has ended!
Our beloved Rossmoor Recycles Newspapers Program has ended as of April 2019.
Unfortunately, due to lack of reliable labor the four decade Rossmoor Recycles program that started as just a “paper drive” has ended.
There are a number of contributing factors to the program’s demise not the least of which is the huge decline in newspapers being delivered to home. Beyond that, many of the groups that used to provide the labor where using their efforts to fund their programs. Boy Scouts, local baseball teams, and many clubs have all benefited over the years. With the reduction in newspaper volume and the falling price of recycled news print has made the revenue generated not worth the time invested.
The Recycling drive became a community service with the dedicated volunteers continuing to run the event. As those committed volunteers became unavailable to run the event, it became harder and harder to continue.
We do want to take this moment to thank the hundreds of volunteers who over the years have put their time and effort into the Rossmoor Recycles program. You not only helped the environment, you also helped to save and beautify the Rossmoor Parks when there was no other funding source.
Times change and so must we…..It’s been a good ride.
Please take any recycling items to the CSU, Long Beach Recycling Center or let CR&R collect and separate them out with your regular trash pick up.
THE RECYCLING DRIVE HISTORY
On the last Saturday of every month volunteers organized by the Rossmoor Homeowners Association (RHA) gathered at the Rush Park parking lot on Blume Drive to load up big blue bins with your newspapers and then expanded to office paper, cardboard, glass, bottles and cans.
The Recycling event ran from 8 AM to 12 NOON in the Rush Park parking lot. The Paper Drive started with collection of 15,500 pounds in July of 1995. As of September 2009, the total collection was over 3,500 tons or 7,000,000 pounds. This sustained effort is an outstanding example of volunteerism and has contributed much to protection of our environment and to the quality of life in Rossmoor. Total volunteer time is estimated to be over 5,600 hours and resource savings have been equivalent to over 53,600 35-ft tall trees and 12,900,000 kilowatt hours of electrical energy (enough to power about 1,580 homes for a year). And, of course, after expenses we have generated over $100,000 in funds that have been used to:
- Purchase of construction and equipment for the Rush Park Tot Lot
- Purchase of parkway trees
- Purchase of equipment and construction of the kitchen at Rush Park
- Purchase of equipment and construction of the Triangle Park outside the wall at the southeast corner of Rossmoor
- Payment for painting house numbers on curbs every few years to help emergency responders to find homes
- Support of annual Rossmoor picnics and other community wide projects
- Help fund High School student scholarships and LAEF programs
- Landscaping upgrade of the Rush Park Auditorium access area
- Donations to community organizations benefiting Rossmoor residents
Shirley Bailey, Jim Alexander, Larry Pace, Bill Gekler, and Mike Davis have energized and sustained the Rossmoor Recycles Program and continue to be valuable resources in guiding our effort and infusing enthusiasm. The CR&R waste management company has been very supportive of our effort, providing the bins for the paper and hauling the bins at no cost to the RHA.
Changing Times
With the great reduction of newspaper subscriptions (most folks read their news online these days) and reduced value of the paper itself, the youth organizations that once enjoyed not only serving the community but also earning their way to camp or to pay for equipment, no longer have the incentive from the income earn by working at Rossmoor Recycles. These organizations have found other ways to raise necessary funds, creating a crippling labor shortage and has forced us sunset the program.
If you would like to recycle your waste, we recommend the CSU, Long Beach Recycling Center. Please see their website for details on materials accepted and hours of operation.