One of the greatest member benefits to joining the IHCA is the discount on trash services. In a recent board meeting, Curtis Kimball, IHCA Treasurer, said “I wish we had a service that collects glass,” which led to a discussion of why carriers do not offer that as a service. One local company said, “if our customers put glass in the recycling, the transfer stations will flag our loads and we risk not being able to drop there.” This leaves a void in the recycling space for many East Cobb residents.
Enter Cheers to Recycling (facebook.com/cheerstorecycling.com), a local small business started by Jamey Moran. She officially incorporated in January of 2022, but has been picking up glass for over a year now. In that time, she has recycled an estimated 15 tons of glass! To put that into perspective, it takes more than 1,800 empty wine bottles to make one ton of glass! Unlike plastic, glass can be recycled endlessly with no loss in quality or purity. However, when thrown in a landfill it will take 4,000 years to break down.
“I’ve taken my personal glass to a local recycling center for years. Then I started taking neighbors glass as well,” Moran accounts. It was actually Covid that pushed me to take a larger step…and alcohol sales. According to a University of Buffalo study, sales of spirits and wine jumped as much as 20-40% in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Reports like this were Moran’s call to action. I literally thought to myself “dang, that’s a lot of glass being thrown away! I did a quick post on FB saying I would do residential pick-ups and take it to the recycling center for local East Cobb households. Seven people responded immediately…I was elated that there were others out there like me, and a business was started,” Moran said.
Moran is now a proud “Ecopreneur,” an entrepreneur operating an environmentally sustainable business. She wants to build a thriving business while keeping planet earth at the heart of every decision.
While recycling glass is unquestionably beneficial, there are so many other ways to help, so many that sometimes families that don’t know where to get started. “First, I firmly believe that every little bit helps. Taking your Chick-fil-A Styrofoam cup and putting it in the Publix Styrofoam recycling container helps. Buying a product in aluminum, tin, or glass vs. plastic and then recycling that container helps. Not taking a plastic bag for just one or two items helps. All the little “helps” do add up,” Moran said.
Besides Cheers to Recycling, Jamey is a Board Member for the local nonprofit My Green Earth (www.mygreenearth.org). According to their website, they are “on a mission to make Cobb County the #1 most sustainable county in all of Georgia.”
Moran helps educate young people in the area as the Environmental Education Committee (EEC) Chair for East Side Elementary PTA. She is also the EEC Chair for the East Cobb County Council PTA (ECCC PTA represents 35 schools in Cobb County) and would love opportunities to bring the message to area private schools and civic associations.
Several Indian Hills Residents are already customers of Cheers to Recycling. Neighbor Sandra Robertson says that “it has been a really big help. We have always saved our jars and bottles for recycling, but it was a challenge to get it to a place that would accept it.” Currently Cobb County does not offer residential glass pick-up. “We would love for more people to learn about Jamey and it is very inexpensive,” Roberson said.
Cheers to Recycling offers monthly pick up for $10 a month for a 6-month cycle and one-off pickups for $15. Current customers receive curbside pickup with the glass being placed by their mailbox in a cardboard container, which is also recycled. Cheers to Recycling currently serves about 15 Indian Hills residents, but Moran has her sights set much higher. “The goal is to introduce custom bins with multiple trailers, mapping out a route that protects time and fuel. For both business and environmental purposes condensing collection areas is vital,” Moran said.
Indian Hills resident Robyn Elliott said “to us, the value of the service far outweighs the cost.” Elliott has been using the service since the very beginning. “We really care about recycling, but it has made it possible for us to not have to worry about getting is somewhere,” Elliott said.
For more information and to learn how you can join the growing number of Indian Hills residents that are taking advantage of glass recycling at your home or have Cheers to Recycling come speak at your child’s school, church or scouting organization, you can reach out to Jamey Moran. You can call or text 404-422-0863. You can also email Cheers to Recycling at cheerstorecycling@gmail.com. Also check out the Facebook page facebook.com/cheerstorecycling.
Kris Killough,
IHCA President
