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County, cooperative score a real energy 'bingo!'
with recycling efforts
 Some York Electric members know Leslie Hatchell as the caller for "Energy Bingo" at co-op annual meetings. The game is just one way that Hatchell, Recycling Educator and Coordinator for York County, teaches the "three R's" — not readin', 'riting and 'rithmetic but "reduce, reuse and recycle."
Hatchell's lessons aren't lost at York Electric Cooperative. Her office, York County Solid Waste Collection & Recycling, earlier this year helped the co-op score a state grant to buy a cardboard compactor. "We'll be partnering with them to help them recycle cardboard," Hatchell says. The co-op already recycles excess wire and other materials.
The recycling office is also helping the co-op get greener with new internal recycling efforts. "They're going to be doing a lot of things here to make their processes more environmentally friendly," Hatchell notes. "It includes simple things like using two sides of a sheet of paper."
 The new co-op projects fit in with county recycling efforts. "Our goal is to reduce what goes into the landfill. By doing that, we're saving our natural resources," she says.
Recycling also cuts our nation's total energy consumption. It's better to use recycled steel, aluminum and plastic than new, raw materials to make cups, bottles and appliances, Hatchell says. "If they're thrown away, they're just wasted — and we're paying for them to be wasted," she notes.
If the response to "Energy Bingo" at co-op meetings is any indication, the three (new) R's are catching on, Hatchell says. "It's amazing how many people know the answers!" The game instills good habits in young players, yet, she adds, "Sometimes, it's the kids teaching the adults!"
Recycling and energy conservation are similar, Hatchell notes: "You see what impact just your one family can have. You realize, if all of us are doing this, how we can make a difference."
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