The Going Green effort in the Ohio Valley is going strong and WTOV is proud to congratulate another local business for making the area a better place to live.

The Belmont-Jefferson Regional Solid Waste Authority is our Going Green Business of the Month for February. The Authority has helped keep more than a million pounds of garbage out of local landfills by recycling, and they say people are catching on.

“The word is spreading. We’re seeing a huge increase in both counties since 2005. We’ve seen a 55 percent increase in recycling,” said Patrick Lanaghan, Solid Waste Authority director.

“Our efforts to educate people are real. The fact that our landfills are filling up quickly is real. People need to understand the severity of protecting our future,” said Mark Thomas of the board of trustees.

The Solid Waste Authority has already started curbside recycling in Powhatan as a pilot program and they hope to add other municipalities to the program soon.