Adam Chitwood of Easy Green Environmental Solutions, LLC, is studying to be an engineer at Virginia Tech. He never anticipated that he’d be making a living hauling around recycling from Southwest Roanoke County, but being environmentally conscious is just as big a passion for him as engineering.

He started off taking his family’s recycling to Blacksburg. “Montgomery County has a robust recycling program,” he says.

Pretty soon, he was taking his friends’ recyclables along as well. Not long after, the idea was born to start a curbside recycling program for Southwest Roanoke County. Born and raised in Southwest County, Chitwood feels particularly tied to the area. He and his wife, Brittany, both graduated from Cave Spring High School–where they were high school sweethearts.

Chitwood obtained his business license in June 2010 and has been running his route on Tuesdays and Wednesdays since then (although starting this month, he’ll cut back to running his route only on Tuesdays; he’s updated his truck to accommodate more recycling at a time).

“The ultimate goal is to have [recycling] bins all over Southwest County,” Chitwood says. Until such a time, he relies on word-of-mouth advertising to pad his customer base. His customers, he’s found, enjoy the convenience of the curbside pickup. He’s also found that there is a definite need for recycling in Southwest Roanoke County, with limited recycling options.

Chitwood has decided to provide a recycling drop off location at the Country Way General Store on Route 221. The drop off location will be available on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon, beginning this Saturday, March 10, and continuing through Earth Day, which is Saturday, April 22.

Easy Green Environmental Solutions accepts all colors of glass, plastic (numbers one through seven), batteries, paper, cardboard, ink and toner cartridges, fluorescent light bulbs, metal and more. Southwest Roanoke County residents can also bring by their donations to Goodwill, including appliances.

Country Way General Store is located at 6958 Bent Mountain Road in Roanoke. For more information about Easy Green Environmental Solutions or to sign up for their weekly curbside recycling program, visit their website at www.EasyGreenLLC.net.