Recent years have seen major efforts towards the "greening of America," and Wilmington has been no exception. For several years Wilmington Public Works has had in effect a curbside recycling program, which led to an increase in recyclables collected and a decrease in trash collection in 2008-2009.

"Every year we try to modify the recycling program," says Assistant Public Works Superintendent Jamie Magaldi. For the first time last year, Public Works allowed residents to combine paper with plastic, glass, and aluminum containers.

"It makes recycling easier for residents and we have seen an increase in recycling and a decrease in rubbish," says Magaldi.

Another initiative is the roof runoff system that irrigates the field at the Boutwell School. Instead of taking water from the municipal water supply, a roof cistern is set up so that the runoff from rain goes into a tank underground. Rainwater is then harvested through a series of pipes, so that the field is irrigated through this method. Only when the harvested water is depleted does the system switch back to the municipal supply.

"It saves us a tremendous amount of water," Magaldi says.

Stay tuned for more updates as Wilmington continues to "go green!"