WHITE HALL —Most people probably think of cars when they hear the name Toothman Sowers Ford.
But on Friday, the business was honored for its leadership role in something else — recycling.
The Recycling Coalition of West Virginia and the Marion County Solid Waste Authority honored Toothman Sowers Ford as a Recycling Champion.
The Coalition said Recycling Champions “reach beyond their normal responsibilities to contribute time and service to support the recycling industry in the Mountain State. These Recycling Champions provide recycling leadership across the state and make a significant contribution to the recycling community.”
Toothman Sowers Ford promotes recycling by providing a recycling drop-off location for the solid waste authority.
“The dealership’s drop-off is easily accessible on Vinegar Hill Road, near Interstate 79 in White Hall,” officials said. “For the past five years, this location has collected more recyclables by volume than any of the county’s 12 drop-off sites. The support of management and staff at Toothman Sowers has been a tremendous boost to the amount of material collected by the Marion County Solid Waste Authority.”
Paul Hayes, chairman of the Recycling Coalition of WV, presented a plaque to Toothman Sowers co-owner Frank Sowers on Friday.
“We really appreciate your willingness to dedicate some land and space,” Hayes told him. “I’m sure you have a lot of traffic in here because you do collect 15 percent of your total volume for your drop-off sites, and I know Marion County Solid Waste Authority really appreciates that, and they wanted to recognize you.”
He said the Recycling Coalition wanted to recognize the business for its contribution to recycling in the state.
Hayes pointed out that the plaque was made of a recycled motherboard base.
“It’s actually made on something that is recycled because if you don’t demand things that are made out of recycled products, it doesn’t create the demand for those recyclables, so we try to walk the talk and utilize things that are made out of recycled materials,” he said.
“Thank you for your service and we appreciate what you do.”
Jesse Corley, vice chair of the solid waste authority, said he also appreciates everything Toothman Sowers does.
“When they purchased the dealership off of Wilson Ford (on July 18), we came to them and they were still willing to keep this site so we appreciate it,” he said.
He said the recycling location is one of the main sites in the county.
“We’re all about community involvement, and this is another way to stay involved with the community. A group of good individuals are behind this situation right here that we highly respect and we want to be a part of it and help them out,” Sowers said.
He said recycling is a “positive win-win for our future.” He said he encourages everyone to recycle.
“This is great because anything that you can keep out of the landfill is better for the environment, it’s better for Marion County, it’s better for West Virginia,” said Tony Golden, director of the Marion County Solid Waste Authority.
Golden said the dealership recycling location is the No. 1 cardboard generator for the authority. He said it’s open 24 hours and is well-lit and includes security cameras.
Bob Bosley, a sales consultant with the dealership, said the recycling location is good for the community and the environment.
“It’s actually been good for the business because from time to time, someone will come up and look at a vehicle, and they say, ‘oh, we were at the recycling center and decided to stop by and take a look at a vehicle,’” he said.
Materials collected at all county drop-off locations include Nos. 1 and 2 plastics, cardboard, mixed paper, and aluminum and steel cans, and are transported by the Marion County Solid Waste Authority for processing.
The Recycling Coalition of West Virginia is “a non-profit environmental organization whose mission is to promote the effective and sustainable reduction, reuse and recycling of materials otherwise destined for disposal.”
“The Recycling Coalition pursues these goals by promoting the purchase of products made with recycled materials; by coordinating and facilitating activities relative to recycling; and by fostering communication among organizations, government agencies and individuals through the sharing of ideas and resources,” it states.
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