Norcross Gets Some Spring Cleaning Done

Hundreds of people came by Norcross for the Neighborhood Clean-up and Recycling Day on Saturday.

Four different stations were set up around the city with 25 volunteers in tow to help unload anything and everything from TVs to bicycles to mattresses.

"We've had as many as 33 different counties and cities show up to our events," city of Norcross Code Enforcement Supervisor Philomena Robertson said of the biannual clean-up day.

New this year was Sustainable Norcross' ReCycle Bicycle Collection, which aimed to give bikes to students for .

Fifty-five bikes, in addition to bicycle accessories, were donated to the organization, said Sustainable founder Connie Weathers. Volunteer Denis Rowe said only a small portion of them need major repairs.

Sustainable Norcross will be partnering with Communicycle Bicycle Co-Op in Chamblee to repair the bikes. Since the middle schoolers will be riding the bikes to and from Summerour, chosen students will "earn" bicycles to repair with the organizations, and they get to keep them afterward.

Their goal is to have the bikes to the kids by the time the new school year starts, said Weathers. Any leftover pieces that can't be used for bikes will be material for art.

Other highlights from recycling day:

• At the paper-shredding event at city hall, the truck was filled with its limit of 10,000 pounds in two hours and 10 minutes. Robertson said that was quicker than any other recycle day the city has had.
• More than a hundred people donated electronics at the electronics recycling center at Norcross Community Center. Most donations included televisions and and computer desktops.
• The community donated a total of 513 canned goods and raised $238 to be given to the Norcross Cooperative Ministry. "Some people actually left, went shopping and came back [with goods]," said Robertson.
• Old lawn chairs, dining sets, and other home furnishings were the No. 1 item at the basic clean-up site at the Public Works Barn on Lively Street. Many citizens of the city came by with truckloads of items.