Selma is still continuing its effort to go green and Selma recycling program organizer and founder, Selma Ward 2 councilmember Susan Keith, said the program has moved so much faster than she thought it would.

“We have so much less trash going to our landfill now,” Keith said. “There is less trash in the trash cans and more trash off of the streets.”

There are currently three recycling locations throughout the city including one location on Washington Street across from Washington Street Supermarket, one at Bloch Park near the tennis courts and another location in the parking lot off of Highland Avenue behind the Burger King. The large bins are bright red and are labeled for paper, plastic and corrugated cardboard.

“Any kind of paper is fine — newspapers, magazines, any kind of paper,” Keith said. As for plastic, any plastic goes except for plastic bags, which can be taken to grocery store locations like Winn Dixie. Corrugated cardboard is the cardboard with waves in the middle.

“The reason we are not doing aluminum is because there are a lot of non-profit organizations that collect aluminum around town,” Keith said. She also said they have not yet started to recycle glass because there is not recycling center nearby that recycles glass and it would just be too costly.

“We have had some instances where people have dumped garbage in the recycle bins, and if people dump garbage in there they are going to be in big trouble,” Keith said. “That is not what the bins are for, they are not for people to get out of making arrangements for garbage. They can be fined and they can be arrested [for dumping in trash.]”

Keith as well as others involved with the recycle program said they have long-term visions for the program.

“We want to extend the program from Selma to Lowndes and then we hope to extend all the way to Montgomery,” Keith said. “We want to complete the historic Civil Rights Trail and keep it clean and green.”

She said this would setup a basic infrastructure for these small towns along the trail for recycling and it is a business opportunity.

“There is no money in waste, but there is money in recycling,” Keith said. “Lets reduce, reuse and recycle.”