PHOTO BY CHUCK HOVEN

Saturday, January 18, 2025; W. 81^st and Madison: A sewer grate blocks this plastic bottle’s journey from Madison Avenue to Lake Erie.

by Cameron Mays

   (Plain Press February 2025)       Boy, Madison Avenue is littered with trash.

   Wrong. Madison Avenue is littered with recyclables.

   Many are quick to cry blight. The truth is Madison’s Cleveland stretch is at the vanguard of a new form of recycling.

HUMOR

   It’s called “open air” recycling, which seeks to include more natural disintegrative processes while being more accessible than “closed bin” recycling.

   Participation requires recyclable materials and free will, though the following individual guidelines address specific recycling issues: • Reduce the size of glass bottles by smashing empty bottles into shards. • Reuse empty plastic bottles with screw-on caps for lavatorial purposes. Place on tree lawn once refilled. • Bulk recycling, such as shopping carts, dishwashers, or totaled Park Avenue Buicks, can be left in any vacant lot. • Flatten beer cans and leave near crosswalks in lieu of ADA warning pads. • Toss it before you thrift it! Give that old sweater a second life by bundling it into a ball and placing it in a sidewalk puddle. • Do your part in preventing tire fires by filling tires with scum water and leaving underneath the rapid rail overpass. • Remove plastic sleeves from cigarette cartons to assist decomposition time. • Crush Styrofoam for a permanent alternative to snowfall.