Ontonagon County Animal shelter works on going green

ONTONAGON — The Ontonagon County Animal Protection shelter is going green.

During the fall spruce-up event held at the facility in October, the idea to recycle materials which were then going into the shelter’s dumpster was discussed, according to a release from Ken Raisanen, who is a cat volunteer at the shelter as well as a member of the Ontonagon Recycling Initiative committee.

A proposal to begin recycling pet food containers and empty bottles from sanitizing and cleaning products was brought to the OCAP board. With the board’s approval, a set of guidelines and instructions were written and a recycle bin was put in place. The first recyclable materials from OCAP were brought to the Ontonagon Recycling Initiative dumpster on Jan. 1.

The initiative to recycle materials has already branched into other areas of the OCAP operation, according to Raisanen. Cartons and plastic bottle holders left over from the shelter’s returnable bottle and can collections are being recycled rather than being thrown out. Plastic bags, also left over from the bottle and can returns, are being used for the daily animal waste and non-recyclable garbage headed to the dumpster.

“Recycling is a natural fit for OCAP as many of its members are long-time recyclers. Some OCAP volunteers are also members of the ORI,” said the release. “OCAP, a community-minded all-volunteer organization, is proud to join the growing environmental movement to reduce waste by recycling.”

—Daily Globe