Williams Lake Junior council is proposing that nine recycling baskets for plastic bottles be placed on garbage cans in the downtown area.
“This would be around Oliver Street and three that branch off of it,” junior council member Jasmine Tio said during a presentation to city council Tuesday.
“We are asking that you will help with our installation, providing the Union of Operating Engineers to help us.”
The stainless steel baskets, which cost $80 each, would clean up the downtown and make it easier for people who rely on recycling bottles to supplement their income, rather than having to dig through garbage cans, Tio said.
“We will cover the costs because we have $2,000 in the junior council budget,” junior council member Donavan Shaw, adding the council also plans to approach businesses in the downtown to see if they want to donate toward the project.
Councillor Craig Smith works with the junior council and said similar baskets have already been placed in other areas of town and would build on that.
Every year junior council participates in opportunities and this year’s council decided it wanted to do something for the environment, Tio said.
“We’re a very environmentally conscious group of people,” she said, adding the baskets would be a good resource for the city.
“Making our town green is very important to us.”
City council received the proposal and approved it in principle.
Now staff will determine the cost of installation and maintenance of the baskets.