Regional Recycling

Last night, McKenzie and I visited the luxurious MABC suite at the Virginia Beach regional. It's where all the cool people go to get drunk after the game...or something like that. Anyway there was quite a crowd, and we were tearing through quite a few bottles, cans, and plastic cups. Trash cans overflowed, and we got an idea.

Recycling! So much of the waste generated at bridge tournaments is paper, plastic, or aluminum -- all recyclable materials, but all go in the trash. Why aren't there recycling committees for bridge tournaments?

Well, we're starting one. No bridge tournament of mine is going to fill our landfills with recyclable materials. I contacted a fellow environmental enthusiast from my local unit and asked her to chair this committee for our upcoming regional. She agreed that it was a great idea, but requested lots of helpers. Of course we'll need large receptacles in every playing area and hospitality suite, and volunteers to take full bins to the recycling center if the hotel won't handle it for us (I have my doubts).

I plan on putting a notice in our daily bulletins each day about recycling, and encouraging the directors to make announcements at the start and finish of every session, reminding the players about the recycling program.

I really hope we get full cooperation from the attendees, because I think this is a great way to make a positive impact, and hopefully get other tournaments and clubs thinking about recycling programs of their own. Kudos to Paul and Ouida of the East Side Bridge Club in Portland, who have been championing recycling in their club all along. We really hope other clubs will follow suit.

Anyone who wants to volunteer to help with our recycling efforts in Charlottesville, please comment or email me at Meg at DoubleSqueeze dot com.