Beech Tree News Network

As I write this, it is Sunday morning, there is ice on the roads and, except for a brief interval involving pancakes, I have barely moved from the chair in my BBC room.  I watched several episodes of DCI Banks, a British crime drama, before shaming myself into getting a shower, believing that would motivate me to get up and get moving.  The shower didn’t work, and I am back in this chair.  I must be still recovering from Saturday night, when I cleaned Diddle Arena in Bowling Green.  Not by myself, mind you, but as part of a cleanup crew.

                Our church participated in the cleanup and recycling program WKU offers as a fundraising project.  We were scheduled to clean up after the WKU boys basketball game on Saturday.  My husband, Garey, and I were part of a nearly fifty member team of volunteers from our church.

                We arrived at half-time, and were escorted to a room on the second level of the arena for orientation.  They fed us then showed a presentation that identified what was considered trash and what was considered recyclables.  I’ve been a recycler from way back, so I knew most of what they told us.  There were a few surprises, however, like the containers that were made from recyclable materials are no longer recyclable.  They are now considered compostable, and as such, go in with the trash.  Small plastic items, like straws or forks and spoons, cause more problems on the conveyor equipment than they’re worth, so recycle companies would rather not deal with them, and they go into the trash.

                Near the end of the game, we were stationed at exit points on the second level in teams of two.  One person was given a white trash bag and one person was given a green bag for recyclables.  I got to choose the green bag.  I was happy.  We were instructed to wear gloves at all times, not crowd or yell at the fans if they put the wrong thing into our particular bag, and not to reach into a bag to retrieve an item if a fan threw it into the wrong bag.  Do you know how hard that last directive is for me?  I followed the rules, but grieved as I watched a few errant recyclables headed for the landfill.

                After the fans exited the building, we took our bags up and down the stands and throughout the bleachers, separating trash from recyclables.  We also took buckets for any leftover liquid.  WKU pays for trash pick-up by the pound, so the liquid is separated out and poured down the drain at the janitor station. 

                Once all the trash and recyclables were bagged, members of our crew used blowers (like small leaf blowers) to dislodge trash like popcorn or peanut hulls from under the seats.  Others swept up the small debris and put it into the trash.  Garey and I were part of the mopping teams.  We followed behind the sweepers, mopping between each row and up under the seats. 

                The last job was sanitizing all the handrails and bleachers.  We each had a spray bottle and a cloth.  By the last few rows, I was spraying, wiping then sliding my backside to the next spot on the bleachers to be wiped down. I was exhausted.  All that was left to do was pose for the group picture.  Considering how sweaty and smelly we were, it might have been wiser to do the group picture first.

                All in all, cleaning the arena was a positive experience.  Our group did it in record time, and we received accolades from the janitorial staff at WKU for doing so.  One janitor said to me, “I wish you guys could clean after every game.  You’re fast and efficient.”

                “We’re country people,” I told him, “We work hard and we don’t mess around.”  He laughed and shook his head in agreement.   It felt good to get recognition for a job well done.  And also we got really cool tee shirts that say, RECYCLING NINJA.