(Photo: Frisco Green Living)

By Bill Sullivan

When it comes to taking care of the planet, most people want to do the right thing. No one likes to think of himself as a polluter or enemy of the environment, and hardly anyone would be averse to doing a little something to help make the Earth a better place.

To Pippa Couvillion, Frisco’s Environmental Services Manager, that last part is the key.

“If you want them to be green, you need to provide an easy means for them to be green,” she says. “We’ve got a drop-off site. We’ve got a chemical drop-off. You’ve got a computer: Bring it here.

“Make it convenient and easy to use and our citizens will support it.”

Keeping it that way is a moving target in a city that has seen exponential growth in recent years. When Couvillion championed a curbside recycling program in 1994, Frisco had 4,073 single family households. That number has since grown to more than 33,000.

Back then, two small trucks were enough to pick up recyclables out of 18-gallon bins.

“In the first year, I think we did 400 tons,” she recalls.

Today, Environmental Services handles about 14,000 tons of recycling a year. The department also is responsible for residential trash, commercial building waste, environmental education and outreach, and household hazardous waste safe disposal.

Working on that kind of scale can put a strain on the concept of making recycling “easy,” but Couvillion and her staff strive to stay ahead of a surging tide of cardboard, cans, bottles, and plastics – not to mention the odd mountain of Styrofoam. In 2004, to help meet demand, recycling went to a cart system, a single-stream program where everything goes into one 95-gallon container.

“People don’t have to sort the stuff, so it’s more convenient to them,” she says. “All they have to do is set it out once a week, and it magically disappears.”

If you don’t make it to the curb, or your recyclables don’t fit the criteria for at-home pickup, or you live in an apartment complex that doesn’t offer recycling, there’s another option: Check out the new convenience center at 6616 Walnut Street, which opened in March, 2009.

Over the years, Frisco has been a pioneer in recycling, so much so that the concept has become part of the local consciousness. Pizza Hut Park was Texas’ first “green” stadium. Frisco Independent School District students know all about the program’s canine mascot, Rufus Recycles, whose smiling face beams from the side of Environmental Services vehicles all over town. Rufus also makes regular visits to Frisco schools, where he receives an enthusiastic welcome.

“The birth of Rufus opened a lot more doors,” Couvillion says. “Our educational program is recognized as one of the best in the country.”

As longtime Frisco residents know, Couvillion has had more than a little to do with all this, albeit somewhat by accident. She came to be involved with the environmentally-friendly effort more than 20 years ago when one of her own garbage collection efforts went awry.

“I was taking my son to school in 1987, coming into Frisco,” she recalls. “The Tollway didn’t exist. There was a large pile of trash on the side to the road. To my horror, it was my cardboard boxes. I had just moved in and paid someone $200 to dispose of them correctly.

“It was not only my boxes. There was a ton of rubbish out there, too.

“I went to the City Manager, George Purefoy, who had been in his position about two months. The two decided to alert Frisco police to the problem and ask that they keep an eye on the dumping ground. Eventually, the perpetrators were caught in the act. Fines were levied, and a message was sent.

“Word got out,” Couvillion says. “If you dump in Frisco, it’s not a good thing. They’ll get you.”

Couvillion ended up volunteering for the city until 1994, when she accepted a part-time position. Five years later, she became the full-time Environmental Services Manager.

An accomplished grant proposal writer, she has helped secure more than a half million dollars in grants for Frisco programs, including the one that funded the green effort at Pizza Hut Park. In 2001, Environmental Services opened a Hazardous Waste Center to help residents dispose of potentially dangerous items.

“How do you get rid of your chemicals and pesticides safely? The city got a grant from North Central Texas Council of Governments. That grant allowed us to build a very minimal facility to accept common household stuff like paint, pesticides, pool chemicals…

“The program has been growing ever since. In the last two years, we added electronic waste. This now accounts for a large section of our business. With today’s ever changing technology, this is sure to stay at the top of our list.

“The city’s recycling program has really evolved over 15 years.”

Couvillion is especially proud of a 2001 Frisco city ordinance that requires every commercial property over 2,000 square feet to provide two enclosures for trash, with the intent that one would be for recycling. It’s another example of how being green can make economic sense: Over time, businesses pay less for garbage collection if they separate out recyclable items.

“Being green is about saving money, too,” she says. “It has to make sense economically.

“If that cardboard doesn’t go into that trash container, it doesn’t go to a landfill. This conserves resources, saves space, and avoids disposal costs.”

While much has been accomplished in the more than 20 years since the mountain of trash was first spotted, much is left to be done.

“For the future, it’s really necessary. People need to change their habits,” Couvillion says.

Frisco is out front, helping show the way.