Greater Laingsburg Recyclers

"Working toward a sustainable future in our own backyard."

Our Story

In 1988 a group of strangers came together to envision a much needed recycling operation that would serve the residents of the greater Laingsburg area overlapping both Shiawassee and Clinton counties. This would include Perry, Ovid, Owosso, Bath, surrounding townships—anyone in this rural area who wanted their waste recycled instead of landfilled. By May 1989 we were ready to launch our monthly drop-off, having coaxed start-up donations from the city and Shiawassee County and lots of volunteers to help process and ferry the materials to their various destinations. We were on our way.

Over time we learned a lot about the whole “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” philosophy and passed that on to those who used our services. We reached out to the Laingsburg Community Schools and got them recycling in the cafeterias and classrooms. This wasn’t just a community service for us but a way of life, a road to sustainability.

Of course, there were glitches. Over the years we were required to move from one site to another, several times. Our finances went up and down, as did our supply of volunteers and markets for recycled materials. Our brokers changed a few times as well, and the weather—the weather did whatever it wanted and, having no facility, we toughed it out. After 31 years and finding our world facing a true climate emergency, we decided: It’s time we made a change!