When Leslie McClain arrived in Helena four years ago, she was taken back by what she found in the trash. Aluminum, newspapers, tin, and bottles, to name a few. These were things that could - that should - be recycled, she said. "I came from Oregon and there was a very distinct recycling program there," said McClain.

"Coming out to Montana and not seeing any of that - it was hard to get used to."

Instead of getting used to it, McClain, now a senior at Carroll College, decided to change it.

Over the past four years, she and several environmental stewards at Carroll have worked to advance the school's recycling program, Student Advocates for Valuing the Environment, or S.A.V.E.

Matt Elsaesser, a former Carroll student who's been involved in the program since 1999, helped expand the club's efforts from campus to community recycling in 2002.

Action Prints, the Bagel Company, and the Real Food Store were among the first businesses in Helena to sign on.

The effort was so successful that Elsaesser and others have seen the club expand into an off-campus nonprofit organization. Its main drive remains dedicated to encouraging local businesses to participate.

"We kept those original businesses as a way to practice our loop," Elsaesser said. "We've added a paid employee, and now we're collecting on Wednesday and Friday afternoons."

The loop, as they call it, is a network of participating businesses that set their recyclables aside for collection by S.A.V.E.

In recent months, new businesses have signed onto the loop, including the Lewis and Clark Library, the Queen City News, and several downtown offices.

The program, Elsaesser said, asks for a $5 donation for each pickup. It's little more than the price of gasoline.

"We can handle pretty large volumes," Elsaesser said. "We pick up anything that can be recycled in Helena."

That brings McClain to her next point - the future of recycling in Helena. Tin, aluminum, newspaper, computer paper, magazines, and glass can be recycled in the city.

"We take all our recycling to Pacific Steel, except for the glass, which goes to the transfer station," McClain said. "In the future, we'd like to set up more recycling stations so homeowners can drop off their recycled goods."

The members of S.A.V.E. want to make it easier to recycle. They also hope to find a market for plastics, which aren't accepted at recycling centers in Helena.

"There aren't many areas in Montana for recycling plastics," McClain said. "We're looking into what it would take to do that."

Polly Pfister, a board member for the S.A.V.E. Foundation, also recognized the deficiency in Helena's recycling.

There's no curb-side pickup, she points out, and collection points are far and few between.

"The big missing link is being able to put it out and have it picked up," Pfister said. "We hope to make it easier, especially for business, to recycle anything and everything that is recyclable."

S.A.V.E. Fund-raiser

To help raise money for its new non-profit effort, the S.A.V.E. Foundation will hold its first fund-raiser Monday, Nov. 15, from 7-9 p.m. at the Ironfront Hotel, located at 415 N. Last Chance Gulch. The event includes Irish, folk, and reggae music, local brews, a silent auction, and more, including the chance to win a five-course meal on the acclaimed SAVEmobile, the group's rough-and-tumble vintage truck. Admission is free. Call 443-6323 for more information.

Reporter Martin Kidston can be reached at 447-4086, or mkidston@helenair.com