Last Updated on 2/9/2010

Published on 11/10/2009

The Town of Pawleys Island may soon become more green with a recycling program for residents and visitors.
Town Council discussed the possibility of starting a program to recycle bottles and cans on the island at its regular meeting Monday.
The topic was brought up by rental companies serving the island after comments made by visiting renters.
Mayor Bill Otis and Mayor Pro Tem Mike Adams will go to rental companies with a proposal for the recycling program this month.
Then, they will present a detailed proposal to residents of the island.
“The first thing residents are going to want to know is how much it will cost them,” Otis said.
Of course, there is no definite answer to that question yet.
However, Otis brought two containers with him to the meeting, a small recycling bin that would cost $7 and a large flip-top, rolling bin that would cost $31.
Council members agreed that the larger container would probably be best, although Mary McAlister said they should get a different color than the bright blue one Otis showed them.
“It would look like Disney World around here,” McAllister said.
Otis said he recently spoke with Julian Rutledge, owner of Rutledge Disposal Service which picks up trash for Pawleys Island and other local areas.
After talking with him, Otis suggested Council consider changing one trash pick-up day per week to a mandatory recycling pick-up day.
Just doing cans and bottles would be best because they are sorted at the landfill, so people would not have to bundle them like newspaper and cardboard, Otis said.
In winter months (September through May), there are two trash pick-up days: Tuesday and Saturday.
In summer months (June through August), there are three trash pick-up days: Monday, Thursday and Saturday.
Otis and Rutledge discussed making Tuesday in winter months and Thursday in summer months the recycling pick-up days.
Saturday was ruled out because it is check-out day for renters and that is the day with the most trash.
Losing one day for trash pick-up should not make trash pile up, Otis said, because officials estimate that bottles and cans make up about half of the average household’s trash.