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Many of us who live in Cornelius make a point to re-use and recycle and are thankful we have weekly curbside pickup of many of our recyclables.
But being green is not just a job for individuals. Cornelius is going greener, too.
Of 542 N.C. municipalities that took on the Green Challenge, Cornelius was among fewer than two dozen to reach the advanced level.
The Green Challenge, a program of the N.C. League of Municipalities, recognizes member cities and towns for their efforts to protect the environment, save energy and preserve natural resources.
Besides joining the program, Cornelius has done and plans to do many things to be environmentally friendly:
The town hall and police department buildings have had energy audits.
The town purchased three all-electric vehicles, two hybrid police cars and a hybrid fleet vehicle. It also participated in national "Lights Out" night.
The PARC Department will put recycling containers in our parks.
LED streetlights, which consume less energy and last longer, have been installed.
The town also is working to reduce clear-cutting of trees, giving incentives to green builders and proposing to "upfit" several streams that have eroded. By July 2010, it intends to offer larger recycling containers. Plans are also in the works for getting land for a solar farm.
If you have ideas to share for the town's green project, go to www.cornelius.org and click "Going Green."
Not so green
Although Cornelius is working to be more environmentally friendly, some people are contributing to the town's pollution.
Several times while driving on Magnolia Estates Drive, I have seen passengers throw trash out of their cars, anything from fast-food bags to empty drink cans.
Instead of waiting until they get home and putting their own trash in the dumpster or their own trash can, these people unload their garbage on someone else's lawn for someone else to clean up.
To those people: It's against the law to throw your debris on other people's property. Lt. Jon Schneider of the Cornelius Police Department said people who throw trash from cars will be charged with a Class 3 misdemeanor, which carries a fine of $250 to $1,000.
And if you throw out a lot of trash from a moving vehicle, such pushing garbage off a truck, you will be charged with illegal dumping, for which the fines are much higher.
Even the minimum fine of $250 is a lot of money to pay for being too lazy to throw out trash at home.
