In June the City of Levelland announced its partnership with the Green Queens, a company that will offer curbside recycling twice a month for citizens of Levelland. The partnership will allow citizens to sign up for the curbside service by adding an additional $27 to their monthly utility bill. The Green Queens will pick up the green recycling bags (provided by Green Queens) every 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month. Residents can sign up by going to www.LevellandTexas.org/recycle.
In an effort to promote the program and reach a tipping point for the program Erik Rejino, Director of
Administrative Services and Dave Quinn, Executive Director of the Levelland Economic Development Corp have agreed to wear tiaras and tutus for a special photo shoot if 75 citizens sign up for the monthly program by October 1, 2010.
While doing a presentation for the Levelland Noon Lions Club the Green Queens joked about Erik being forced to wear a tutu and tiara if the city didn’t reach its goal. Well, after giving it a little thought Erik and I decided that if wearing the princess outfits would motivate residents to join the program, what the heck.
So with a tweet, an email and a Facebook posting we launched a green campaign that might 
just land us in tiaras and tutus for the entire world to see. This proves we are not afraid to go the extra mile in Levelland to help save the world in our own strange little way.
You can read more about the curb side recycling program and help get Erik and I into our camo tutus and princess tiaras at www.LevellandTexas.org/recycle or at www.GreenQueens.org The clock is ticking!
Who says you can't do curbside recycling in rural America? The City of Levelland has worked at proving even rural communities can have curb side recycling if you want it bad enough. Last week the City approved a contract
with the Green Queens that will allow Levelland residents the option of curb side recycling. This continues Levelland's push to become the "Greenest" community on the South Plains.
The project is a beautifully designed public/private partnership with a global impact. After reading an article in the Lubbock Avalanche Journal about the Green Queens, City Manager Rick Osburn picked up the phone and called the recycling queens about expanding into the city of Levelland, a growing community just 30 miles west of Lubbock Texas. Fast forward a few months and here we are today, curbside recycling in Levelland Texas population 12,866.
"Adding curbside recycling is the next step in our
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| Rick Osburn, City Manager |
successful recycling program. The partnership between the City (Levelland) and the Green Queens is the most effective way to provide our citizens this service in an efficient, quality manner. Since protecting our environment is everyone's responsibility, combining the efforts and resources of the public and private sectors is an effective way to engage everyone in the effort," says Rick.
Levelland made the commitment to begin a recycling
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| Levelland New Recycling Center |
program a little over a year ago when a drop off center was built on A&M lane.
Residents who wish to recycle sort their recyclable materials and bring them to the center. A goal of 10 tons in the first year was set and 1 year later the city's center has recycled over 30 tons.
While there was no way the city could afford to fund a curbside recycling program for the entire city, Rick found a way to bring the service to town for those that would like to recycle. Residents can sign up for the program and pay the $27 per month fee, which will be billed along with their water utility bill, and the Green Queens will provide twice a month pickups on the first and third Thursday of every month.
Going Green just a got a little easier in our little spot of paradise, if you would like to know more about curbside recycling in Levelland visit www.LevellandTexas.org/recycle
You can also find the Green Queens on Facebook.
The following is a guest post by Erik Rejino, Director of Administration Services for the
City of Levelland.
It was approximately two years ago that a fourth-grade student went to Levelland City Council and urged them to begin thinking about future generations by beginning a City-Wide recycling program.
It was approximately
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The Levelland Recycling Center |
one year ago that the
Levelland Recycling Center officially opened for operation. Just in the first year of operation, Levelland residents have saved 510 trees, 11,400 gallons of oil, 90 cubic yards of landfill space, 120,000 kilowatts of energy, and over 210,000 gallons of water by taking their recyclables to the Levelland Recycling Center.
The initial goal of the program was to collect 10 tons of recyclable material during the first year of operation. 
The Levelland Recycling Center actually collected over 32 tons in its first year of operation, shattering the initial goal of 10 tons. I applaud all who participated in the program over the past year and encourage you to continue to Go Green.
While the Levelland Recycling Program has had huge success in its first year of operation, please understand that this program is only in the beginning stages. The City of Levelland is working on various ways to make the program more convenient for residents.
The City is exploring ideas with regards to offering a curb-side pickup service as well as possibly adding a more conveniently located drop off location. We understand that only by improving the program and making it more convenient can we achieve our long run goal of recycling 200 tons per year.
For those of you that are not familiar with the Levelland Recycling Program and want to learn more please go to the recycling web page or come by City Hall and pick up a brochure.
Also, the City has posted a recycling survey on their website. Please go to the City of Levelland website and help us improve the Levelland Recycling Program by taking the survey. Click here to go directly to the survey.
The following is a guest post by Erik Rejino Director of Aministration Services (He gets the Grants!)
The Levelland Recycling Center has now been in operation approximately eight months. As of the end of December of 2009 the program had collected 21.7 tons of recyclable material including aluminum cans, cardboard, office paper, newspaper, and plastic bottles. The initial goal of the Levelland Recycling Center was to recycle 10 tons the first year of operation. Levelland residents have by far exceeded the initial goal of the program and for that I would like to thank all who have helped get this program off to a great start.
This program was initially started with a solid waste grant this past year. It gave the City an opportunity to leverage local resources. The more outside funds that come into the City of Levelland, the less local funds that are needed for our projects. The City of Levelland once again has taken advantage of a solid waste grant this year and has purchased a forklift for the recycling center. 
The forklift will be used to transport the bales of recyclable material as well as load the recyclable material into the baler. Prior to getting the forklift, this was all done by hand and a pallet jack. The forklift will help in making the program less labor intensive and more efficient as the program continues to grow.
While we have made some remarkable progress by shattering our first year's goal, we are still a long way from accomplishing our long run goal of 200 tons per year. This goal is absolutely achievable for a community our size and more so with the dedication of Levelland residents. For those of you that are looking to go "green" and want to learn more about the Levelland Recycling Program please go to our website.
For those of you that have already joined the Levelland Recycling Program, Thank You and lets finish out the year strong!