In eastern Nevada, where rusted automobiles and white-enameled refrigerators can dot the landscape, a new program has people cleaning up.

White Pine Green Up is a collaborative effort by the City of Ely, Nevada Division of Forestry, BLM and Forest Service to clean up the public lands.

The program allows White Pine County residents to leave at the landfill in Ely, free-of-charge, such items as old appliances, leftover construction material and worn-out automobile tires. Two local businesses voluntarily accept, again free-of-charge, used car and truck batteries.

The landfill has, since the program’s inception, collected hundreds of tons of scrap metal and construction waste, hundreds of refrigerators and thousands of used tires.

The BLM is considering the possibilities of establishing this highly-successful program state and nation-wide.

To learn more about the White Pine Green Up program, contact Steve Leslie, BLM Ely Field Office wilderness planner, at (775) 289-1800 or stephen_leslie@nv.blm.gov.

Already emptied of Freon, the refrigerators pictured below are part of a more than 20-foot high stack of appliances collected at the local landfill for recycling. The virtual mountain of used appliances was gathered through White Pine Green Up, a collaborative program aimed at reducing illegal dumping on public lands.