To the editor:

Four months have passed since I wrote a letter to the editor regarding the recycling gap that the City of Lawrence had created by failing to provide recycling service for commercial accounts. Four months have passed since that same letter was delivered to all of the city commissioners. The only result so far is that I ended up on one commissioner’s email spam list. Just what I needed — recycled bologna!

Yet, it is not to harangue the commissioners or their failed foresight that I write today. Rather, it is to praise a local organization that has stepped up, and into, the commercial recycling gap.

Community Living Opportunities (CLO) is a community based organization that serves children and adults with special needs. For example, they provide opportunities for the developmentally disabled to have worthwhile, satisfying jobs in the community. One way they have done this is through their recycling program. CLO provided Lawrence residents curbside recycling for many years. Additionally, their clients staffed the Walmart recycle center. Both of these programs were essentially made obsolete by the city’s mandated curbside recycling.

Recognizing the need to continue to provide meaningful work for their clients, CLO staff quickly seized on the failed opportunity of the city to meet the recycling needs of commercial clients in Lawrence. CLO stepped up when other recycling companies discontinued commercial service. Working with Hamm Inc. and local businesses, CLO found a way to provide businesses with a vital service and their clients with viable work.  

Thank you, CLO.