Think Outside the (Green) Box

Local designers hope to bring recycling downtown. Could it include you?

Downtown’s greener future could be contained in four local designers’ green box—er, GRN:BOX. GRN:BOX is the name of a new contest created by Ryan Faust and Travis Willson of Jack Ball Architects, as well as Emily Harrold of Dake Wells Architecture and John McNabb of Sapp Design & Associates. The plan calls for a public competition to design recycling bins for sidewalks throughout the district. If it works, GRN:BOX could be the first in a series of design competitions intended to change the way downtown Springfield impacts the environment, with ideas for more contests involving bike racks and bus stops also under consideration.

A need in Springfield

The organizers hope to raise awareness for the need to recycle in Springfield, something they believe has been a topical issue of late. The new Hickory Hills Middle School, for example, will be built as a “green” project, and new city council member Doug Burlison ran on the platform of environmental consciousness.

There is a need for recycling downtown, at least part of which is being met. Barb Baker, Community Improvement District manager, says the CID has received a pilot grant from the City of Springfield’s Solid Waste Management department to contract a company to collect glassware from downtown bars and nightclubs.

Add to that initiative the need for public participation—think of all the plastic to-go cups that leave MudHouse each day, for example—and the GRN:BOX organizers say they believe the need for recycling downtown is equal to that of trash disposal. “If you see a trash can every 50 or so feet [downtown], why not see a recycling bin [as often],” Willson says.

Willson says the GRN:BOX program has received support from downtown bars and other businesses regarding the recycling bins. Meghan Chambers, owner of Staxx Apparel on South Avenue, says she’s glad GRN:BOX is increasing awareness for recycling. Chambers says she would consider placing a bin in front of her store—as long as there wasn’t one on every corner—and if it kept an aesthetically pleasing look. “You have to make it tasteful and not a big, bulky trash bin out in front,” she says.

How GRN:BOX would work

Faust says the idea for GRN:BOX came from a trip to Chicago’s Young Architects Forum in 2005. But while public recycling bins quickly reached Chicago sidewalks, Springfield city ordinances require going through an approval process with the city and the Urban Districts Alliance to be able to place items on public right-of-way. Harrold says the Green Box organizers are in the midst of that process, and when it’s completed they will determine if the competition can begin on June 1 as scheduled.

The contest calls for at least five finalists to have their bins displayed on sidewalks this fall. After a 30-day trial period, the GRN:BOX organizers would judge the bins based on their durability, ease of construction, ease of maintenance and aesthetic appeal. If all goes well, the winning design would be mass-produced and implemented early next year.

The contest works like this: The call for entries is scheduled to begin June 1, after which designers have 60 days to submit their ideas. Organizers will select a panel of five judges, including local city officials and other designers, to choose the finalists. The idea is to have five, but Willson says good ideas won’t be left out. If that means expanding the list of finalists, so be it. Each of the finalists would be given a $500 stipend to build his or her design.

It’s for this reason that the group intends to carry on with the contest even if the city doesn’t allow the finished bins to appear on sidewalks. The organizers are in negotiations with the Springfield Regional Arts Council to have their own gallery to display the proposals during First Friday Art Walks in August (for first-phase submittals) and September (for the finalists). That way, even if the city decides not to allow the recycling bins, there will still be a public forum to generate the desired awareness for recycling.