Are you tired of overfilling your recycling bins? Sick of separating out the cans, bottles and newspapers when you know everything will be dumped into the same truck? Little do most people know, back in 2008, Republic Services started a recycling pilot program that got rid of the bins and replaced them with just one large recycling container. The program has grown but is not offered everywhere.

Here’s the idea: Republic Services will provide every residence with one 96-gallon trash cart and one 96-gallon recycling cart. Republic Services will then provide ‘once per week’ collection for both trash and recycling on the same day. Bulky item collection will be provided every other week on the regular collection day. This seemingly simple program sounds like a great plan to keep our streets clean and encourage more residents to recycle.

So why isn’t everyone doing it? In order to get signed up for the program all residents in your neighborhood must participate. So, send this to your friends, neighbors and co-workers and ask them to sign up for this service.  Sign up here: http://www.republicservicesvegas.com/Pages/RecyclingPilotPrograms.aspx to request this service in your neighborhood.

As I enter Starbucks on a particularly hot May afternoon in Las Vegas, I’m greeted with two weary but smiling faces, all but too happy to jump up and order me a cool and frothy whipped wonder. These faces are those of Greener Vegas founder and owner, Zach Delbex-Smith and chief information officer, Tim Stimple.

The understandably exhausted duo, along with their chief operating officer Cynthia Stimple and a small army of volunteers, have been on a relentless mission to demonstrate the importance of not only recycling, but repurposing, both of which they have shown can have a massive impact on the local community.

“In 2008, we saved and donated nearly 800,000 pounds of paper from the aftermath of both conventions and trade shows,” shares Tim Stimple. “And this year’s repurposing program has seen well over 10,000 square feet of fiberboard and more than 15,000 square feet of foam core board donated to 40 schools and other organizations in Clark County.”

The list of beneficiaries from the efforts of Greener Vegas is a long one—too long, in fact, which has created a complicated crossroads for the fledgling local charity.

“In one week, we had 15 teachers ask for donations—we were only able to service two of them,” said a visibly saddened Delbex-Smith.

In just under two years, the organization has grown from a good deed and a 20-foot flatbed truck, purchased with Delbex-Smith’s personal money, into a full-blown non-profit 501(c)3 organization operating out of a warehouse in North Las Vegas. However, it is not enough.

“We have more projects than people, and we have more material than we can possibly store,” said Delbex-Smith.

A good problem, with a currently unclear solution. But one thing is for sure: the idea is catching on. Greener Vegas’ ever-growing presence within the Las Vegas convention scene is creating a demand for its services that the group could never have imagined.

“With the rotation of conventions, we have seen the same companies multiple times. On their second and third times through town, they start to seek out our services, instead of us having to ask if we can recycle their leftovers,” said Delbex-Smith.

Being a non-profit 501(c)3 organization allows Greener Vegas to offer tax deductions on each donation. So, for companies who would otherwise throw away unused convention brochures and booth materials or have to bother with packing and shipping items back home, they would just as soon donate to a charity for a tax write-off.

Stimple refers to the “win-win-win” situation encompassing the companies who are able to donate; Greener Vegas who gains the material; and the end-users (other non-profits, schools and teachers) around Las Vegas.

“We have been asked if our services are available in Florida and other large convention markets,” said Delbex-Smith. “We know the need is there.”

But back to that pesky space and resources issue. With such a seemingly simple business model and highly beneficial end result, one would think the sky is the limit. What’s more, Greener Vegas’ services go much further than the convention industry.

In visiting the organization’s website, www.greenervegas.org one will find a host of intriguing green initiatives and ways to measure those efforts. For example, they offer “green consulting” for businesses looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint. Also, they utilize an “environmental impact calculator” which measures how many trees, how much water, etc. is saved as a result of green efforts.

The relentless ambition of this small but effective group is undeniable. It takes just one conversation to see and hear the passion they have for their organization and its mission. And hey, if they can make the desert green, who knows what’s next?

According to Delbex-Smith, “All we need is the ability to unleash our potential. We’re too big to fail.”

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Greener Vegas is actively seeking business partners and storage space donations from the community in an effort to sustain and expand their services. Please visit www.greenervegas.org for more information.

There are no shoeboxes of old birthday cards collecting dust in Sandy Schimmel’s closet. There are no take-out menus cluttering her kitchen counter or pieces of junk mail taking up space on her coffee table.

The colorful paper waste that most people can’t wait to shove in a drawer or a trash can, Schimmel is turning into art worth thousands of dollars.

The Phoenix-based artist collects drawers full of business cards, postcards, brochures and all types of junk mail, which she keeps arranged by color before she pain-stakingly chops and arranges them to produce finely-detailed mosaics.

“It takes a really long time because it’s all low tech,” Schimmel said. “Everything is done by hand. People always seem amazed when I say that but there’s really no other way to do something like this.”

Schimmel begins with a canvas — often an old piece of art collected at a garage sale as canvases can be reused but never recycled. She then paints the image that’s captured her attention using non-toxic, water-based paints. When she is satisfied with the painting the real work begins as she pastes upwards of 1,000 pieces of colored paper over her painting with non-toxic adhesive.

The process can take anywhere from a week to two weeks to complete for pieces that range from $200 to $5,000.

“It’s like a puzzle to me,” she said. “I get obsessive about finding just the right shade of color. It’s a lot of work but I think what makes it really special is the clever use of material.”

Though Schimmel’s work varies in subject, the bulk of her pieces are portraits — many of pop-culture icons like Marilyn Monroe and Jimi Hendrix. In these portraits she attempts to explore the concept of society’s version of beauty using the upcycled materials advertisers use to bombard society with that version.
Upcycled materials, like the paper tiles used in Schimmel’s mosaics, are disposable items reused or transformed for something of greater use or value.

A self-described hippie, Schimmel said she has always been environmentally conscious whether it’s maintaining a compost pile or finding ways to reduce her carbon footprint. She said she has enjoyed bringing that part of her life into her art.

“I had already given up toxic art supplies because I had learned even completed paintings continue to leech fumes into the air,” she said. “I just kept moving more and more to natural materials.”
Kate Chimenti, director of Translations Gallery in Denver where Schimmel’s art is currently on exhibition, said a large part of the appeal of Schimmel’s mosaic portraits is the story behind the art. While environmentally safe materials have become the norm in modern art, she said guests of the gallery have responded to the idea of discarded paper being upcycled and reborn as a beautiful work of art.

“People usually don’t realize what goes into her art until they get up close and read the tag,” Chimenti said. “It adds a whole other level for people. Everyone has junk mail or stacks of old greeting cards they throw away. She’s using them to create this really unique color palette.”

Schimmel’s current work is the result of a long-progression both in terms of medium and materials. After working for years in paint, the New York native fell in love with mosaics while studying in Turkey and Italy. After stints designing handbags, painting murals and designing and painting needlepoint canvasses, she found a way to merge the painting and mosaic work in a way she found appealing and engaging.

“I had worked in glass and ceramic mosaics but I didn’t want to be just another mosaic artist,” Schimmel said. “I wanted to offer something different. I had a box of old greeting cards and some of them had great colors. I took an old self-portrait and I thought, ‘Well, if I ruin this I can just redo it.’ I made a really simple mosaic but when I was done I knew I was on to something.”

Schimmel’s art will be on display at the Springs Preserve Museum in Las Vegas beginning Oct. 16 and can be purchased on her Web site at http://www.schimmelart.com.

By Jared Harmon