Portage Township Y Modernizes Facility With Recycled Paint

Portage Township Y Modernizes Facility With Recycled Paint

Sprucing up your facility doesn’t need to cost an arm and a leg. Just ask Portage Township YMCA President/CEO Shannon Burhans.

After learning about the cost-effectiveness of recycled latex paint during a Porter County Recycling & Waste Reduction presentation, Burhans recommended the product be incorporated into the facelift of many of the facility’s rooms.

“We started with three five-gallon buckets of paint and began painting the studios,” Burhans said. “Then we kept on going.”

Burhans said most YMCAs were painted in really bright colors; but now the goal for the Portage YMCA is uniformity with a neutral makeover.

“We have tons of painting projects,” she said. “Thanks to the UAW-Ford Community Service Team for their hard work.”

Burhans said the paint was easy to get from the City of Hobart, and the price was right; the product is free to non-profit and government organizations.

“We call the new color putty,” she said.

Aside from non-profit and government organizations, the paint is available for anyone to purchase at $3 per gallon weekdays from 7 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. at the Hobart Paint Recycling Facility, located in the City Dump Yard, 340 S. Shelby St.

The product is made from good but unwanted paint brought in from residents of Lake and Porter Counties. The gray/beige color is the result of mixing all colors and types of latex paint together in the recycling process.

“If you’re color palette is neutral, like the YMCA’s, it’s a great, inexpensive product,” said Therese Haller, executive director of Porter County Recycling & Waste Reduction.

She said the product also makes a great primer.

“We highly recommend this product,” Haller said. “By using, or reusing the paint, we each help to decrease the demand for new paint, ultimately reducing energy and resources spent on making new paint.

“If it weren’t for the City of Hobart, all of this usable paint could have ended up in the landfill,” she added.

Northwest Indiana residents with unwanted latex paint that is not usable are encouraged to dry out and dispose of the paint and cans in their curbside garbage.

For more information on recycled latex paint, call the City of Hobart Public Works Department, 219-942-6121. For more information on managing your unwanted latex paint, call Porter County Recycling & Waste Reduction, 219-465-3694.