It has been a familiar sight on the streets of the small village of Bennebroek for years. Members of sports club BSM (Blijft Steeds Moedig) who collect the waste paper on Saturday morning. “Good for the feeling of solidarity and it has now really become ‘a village thing’,” says Michel Rijkelijkhuizen, who has been helping for thirty years.
The BSM people always collect the waste paper in the village on the first Saturday morning of the month. At nine o’clock they gather in the canteen of the sports club. First a cup of coffee and then off we go. Twelve to fifteen people together.
“We have a team of permanent employees, supplemented with volunteers from our association,” says Rijkelijkhuizen. In the past, those permanent employees from Nijssen Recycling came from Nieuw-Vennep. Since this year, the Meerlanden company from Rijsenhout has taken over the professional support.
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The sports club now consists of football players and billiards players. For example, in the past there were also baseball, soft and handball players. BSM was therefore an ‘omni club’, with different sports.
Every four weeks a different team has a ‘old paper turn’. This week it is the football team’s turn on Sunday 2. The billiard players will be allowed in four weeks. In the past, Friday evenings were also devoted to collecting waste paper, but now only Saturdays.
New canteen
“It all started in the 1970s as part of fundraising for a new canteen. We moved to a new site,” says Wolbert van den Hoorn. Mention ‘BSM’ or ‘waste paper’ and it will explode. He was there from the start.
He is now 78 years old and still attends on Saturday mornings. “I ride in a van of a dahlia grower. He was a football player at the club and now plays billiards. You often see that order with us.” Van den Hoorn himself played football and baseball at BSM. He also had various administrative positions and was a referee for a while.
Fixed price
Van den Hoorn and the other BSM employees collect tons of waste paper every month from the streets of small Bennebroek. “Now that is about fourteen tons. It used to be much more. But we have agreed a fixed price with the municipality of Bloemendaal. That is nice, whether we collect a lot or a little,” van den Hoorn explains. The relationship with the municipality is good. Former mayor Roest even spent a morning with the BSM members.
They invest the municipality’s money in their club. This means that members have to pay less annual contributions. The new canteen has been around for many years now and the fundraising has turned into a wonderful tradition. The club’s coffers are full, the residents are enthusiastic and the municipality is happy to support the athletes.
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For a while they drove through the village with cars and trailers. These were first replaced by trucks and then press vehicles. “You throw the waste paper into the back of the vehicle and a valve then pushes it further into the vehicle,” BSM chairman John Beerders explains.
He and Michel Rijkelijkhuizen enjoy helping out on Saturday mornings. “It has now become a household name in Bennebroek. Sometimes we are offered a cup of coffee or a filled cookie. One of the residents even had an envelope ready with fifteen euros every time,” says Rijkelijkhuizen.
“Sometimes we cannot get through all the streets with the press vehicles. That is why a van drives with us. For example, if streets are too narrow or cars are parked incorrectly,” van Rijkelijkhuizen continues. At 1 p.m. the work is done and the ‘working day’ ends with a drink. Also in the canteen of their club.
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Sirloin steaks and laptop
Sometimes something other than waste paper goes into the cart. Like that one time when the collectors accidentally loaded a box of sirloin steaks. “Then panic broke out at the restaurant in question. They had to turn the entire container upside down,” says Rijkelijkhuizen. “But the sirloin steaks showed up again.”
Or that one time when a laptop accidentally disappeared into the bin. “Then it started to smolder and the fire brigade had to be called in. One of our boys is in the volunteer fire brigade and he was also paged at that moment. That was quite a laugh. We were even in the news for a while.”
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Chairman John Bremmers also occasionally participates in fundraising. “It’s fun to go through the village this way. It’s always fun together.” They do not wear special BSM outfits during the collection. They only wear the club colors (green, black and a little white) when a ball is involved.
Underground containers
For the time being, the football players and billiards players will continue to collect waste paper in the village. Times are changing, because the village now also has the well-known underground paper containers.
The municipality wanted to provide more service and villagers thought that collecting once a month was very little. The athletes understand that, that’s just how it goes. “But we still have a good time together and in this way, by recycling paper, we also contribute to a better environment,” concludes Wolbert van den Hoorn.