Jackson County, Ore. – A Rogue Valley man, tired of seeing litter around town, is making it his mission to keep Oregon green.
His method–and what he collects–is a little unconventional.
George Eberly, also known as the “Tube Dude,” is picking up his first barrel full of marijuana pop-top containers from his homemade recycling drop-off.
It’s a new venture for the relatively new Rogue Valley resident. He’s only been here 6 years, but he’s already finding a way to help the environment.
Eberly said, “So every sixteen of those is a pound going in the landfill.” That’s something that doesn’t sit well.
While out and about, he says he’s started to see more and more of containers lying around.
“I saw a few tubes laying around and I was like, ‘What is everybody doing with these things?’”
Without a plastic buy-back available for the containers, Eberly says most people aren’t motivated to recycle them on their own.
He said, “…they buy them and then they just throw them on the ground.”
Tired of seeing plastic littered around town, a conversation with friends sparked a novel solution. “So I just came up with this weird tube dude idea.”
So far, Eberly has a recycling barrel in the Fireside Dispensary in Phoenix and at the Talent Health Club.
He said, “Every customer that walks in and sees it is like, ‘Oh thank you, this was needed!’”
The Talent Health Club’s owner Andrew Robison said the first time he heard Eberly’s idea, he knew it would make a difference.
“Honestly it sounded like a very genuine out of the goodness of his heart kind of idea. We don’t want to see these pop tops everywhere.”
Eberly will be the first to admit it’s nothing fancy. “Recycle barrels at Home Depot.”
But it’s his way of cleaning up and giving back.
“Hoping to turn it into a not for profit to help the homeless shelters and the critter shelters.”
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