The Metropolitan Environmental Trust (The M.e.t.) has spearheaded the efforts to provide environmental services and education to the City of Tulsa and surrounding communities for over 30 years. During the fiscal year 19/20, the M.e.t.'s educational outreach program taught over 181,000 children and adults about sustainability, composting, and curbside and drop-off recycling. The M.e.t. also operates 10 recycling centers in 8 member communities and employs 75 individuals with disabilities. These workers brighten the lives of all those who visit the recycling centers with their warm welcomes and smiles. The environmental services and education the M.e.t. provides are invaluable to Tulsa citizens and surrounding communities.

The Tulsa Authority for the Recovery of Energy (TARE) wishes to remove two of the Tulsa drop-off recycling centers and reduce funding for the M.e.t.'s educational outreach program. By removing the East Tulsa center (2160 S Garnett Rd, Tulsa, OK 74129) and the Downtown Tulsa center (1101 S Cincinnati Ave, Tulsa, OK 74119), the only available drop-off recycling center in the Tulsa area would be the Central Tulsa location off 34th and Sheridan. This would greatly impact Tulsa citizens access to recycling services. Keeping all three drop-off recycling centers open in Tulsa is important because:

• The M.e.t. makes recycling accessible for apartment dwellers and those in multi-family housing. This population is not able to use the recycling services provided by the City.
• The M.e.t. accepts materials that are not recyclable through Tulsa's curbside program, such as electronics, batteries, grocery bags, cooking oil, and motor oil. 
• The M.e.t. provides recycling services to a large and growing number of citizens in the East Tulsa and Downtown areas.
• The M.e.t. produces educational materials for member governments, Tulsa area citizens, schools, and non-profits and also provides hands-on environmental education in classrooms and after-school programs.

The M.e.t. provides environmental services and education that the City of Tulsa does not have the capacity to fill. Citizens in the Downtown Tulsa and East Tulsa communities will be without reasonable access to recycling services if TARE removes the two drop-off recycling centers in these communities. Moreover, contamination rates in curbside programs will likely increase if citizens do not have easy access to centers where they are able to drop-off items that are not accepted in the curbside containers. This may cause less materials to be recycled because contaminated recycling will go to the landfill. Reducing funding for educational programming will also negatively impact the M.e.t.'s ability to promote environmental stewardship and provide children and adults with high quality environmental education.

Please consider signing this petition and contacting your city council member and/or the TARE board to express your support for the M.e.t. and keeping Tulsa green!

TARE contact: 

Jenna Evans
TARE Secretary
2445 S. Jackson
Tulsa, OK 74107
(918) 596-9448
TARE@cityoftulsa.org

City Council Contacts: http://www.tulsacouncil.org/

City Council District 1 (location of Downtown Center): Councilor Vanessa Hall-Harper, 918-596-1921, dist1@tulsacouncil.org

City Council District 6 (location of East Tulsa Center): Councilor Connie Dodson, 918-596-1926, dist6@tulsacouncil.org