Bottles and cans, clap your hands

It’s time to dig out from under the detritus of December—paper, boxes and, lord knows, bottles—and the city of Asheville and Curbside Management are leading the charge with their Feed the Bin and Win contest.

It’s not just about good, green feelings, either—there’s also cold, hard cash involved. Beginning Monday, Feb. 4, participating households will have a chance to win $100 or more just for filling up their bins with recyclables. To be eligible, Asheville residents need to fill out a downloadable form (available at www.ashevillenc.gov) and send it to the city’s Sanitation Division. Entry forms and brochures explaining the contest rules have also been dropped off at households served by Curbside Management. Each week for 16 weeks, a form will be randomly selected, and if that household puts out its recyclables that week, it will win a C-note. If not, the money will roll over to the next week, creating a $200 prize.

Solid Waste Manager Wendy Simmons says she picked up on the idea after seeing it done in Winston-Salem. “We’d love for anyone not currently participating to join in, and we are rewarding those who have already been consistently participating,” she says.

To be eligible to win, notes Simmons, bins must be properly placed outside on the appropriate pickup day and must contain only those materials currently accepted by Curbside Management (for an updated list, see accompanying graphic).

In November, Curbside Management expanded the list of materials it will pick up within the city limits to include aerosol cans and plastic bottles (the mouth must be smaller than the body of the container) Nos. 1-7. All bottles should be empty and have their caps removed.

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