Oyster Harbor Home Owners Association Brings Recycling to the Masses

On Tuesday, May 1^st, Mountaire Farms and WMDT-TV visited the residential community of Oyster Harbor in West Ocean City to present the Home Owners Association with the WMDT/Mountaire Environmental Star Award.  Since 2006, when Worcester County was experimenting with county wide recycling initiatives, the HOA of Oyster Harbor and the community management firm, Mann Properties, have been interested in providing residents with an easy, cost effective way to recycle.  This past April an opportunity presented itself through Waste Management which would provide recycling containers to all property owners along with curbside pick-up at no extra expense to the home owners.  Currently, 95% of the 176 home owners in the community participate in the recycling program which should serve as a great example to all area Home Owners Associations and property managers of what they do to help the environment and give back to their communities. 

With the fantastic participation rate at Oyster Harbor, along with the all the positive feedback from residents, Mann Properties is now looking to set-up similar recycling programs at many of their other residential communities in the area.

“As a former Homeowners Association President I know and appreciate the uphill battle community leaders are presented with in any proposal and new venture. So it is with applause for the Board and the Oyster Harbor community that I approach and present the 99 percent participation to take on another trash can filled with select remnants of former household necessities. And every other week place the plastic container-on-wheels on the street side for pick up just as they do weekly with their trash containers.

We thank you for not contribute to the overfilling of the County waste refuge center and for creating more jobs in the form of pick up persons and those experts who extract the plastic, cardboard, glass from the orange and green containers and redistribute to us as useful objects in a new form. We have all seen tables, chairs, flooring and roofing materials made from plastic milk cartons, glass, etc.

Recycling is a win-win program for the environment, the economy as a job creator and consumers who will see the bottom line results on the store shelf, the rooftops, in the outdoor furniture as another creative, useful shape and form. Bravo Oyster Harbor and Mann Properties for being an aggressive leader in the community and a good neighbor to all.” Roger Marino, Mountaire Farms corporate director of communications and community relations.

For taking the initiative and developing a win-win environmental program for their 176 residents, the Oyster Harbor Home Owners Association is a prime example of an environmental star and deserving of this Month’s WMDT/Mountaire Environmental Star Award.