If you do anything in the coming New Year, visit http://365daysoftrash.blogspot.com
This guy shows us all how a sustainable family is possible. I am truly inspired to do an even better job!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
Recycling Markets
Twelve-foot towers of cardboard, plastic, and paper crowd Sunrise Enterprises. More than 3,000 tons of old newspapers, bottles, office paper, and boxes from homes and businesses in Douglas County, bundled into bales, have accumulated here since September. Each week, more streams in by the truckload.
Boxes and wrapping paper tossed into the recycling bins during the holidays typically are turned into pulp for tissues, cereal boxes, construction material, or cardboard packaging. But the recession has hit recycling companies just as hard in recent months by driving down demand and prices for their materials and the results can be seen at this Green, Oregon recycling plant: Less paper is getting sent out and more is piling up.
At a time when every dollar counts, organizations strapped for cash are receiving thousands less than their usual per month price for recycled fiber, plastics and metals. The decline in revenue, however, does not pose a large risk of ending recycling programs in Douglas County. Haulers are prohibited by state law from putting it into landfills after picking it up. The challenge is how do companies continue to pick up recycling with out their usual cash flow?
The heaps of bales are a vivid example of how industries and economies in disparate places rely on one another, and show how global market forces can challenge environmental efforts. Since 2000, increasing amounts of recycled paper have been exported as manufacturing has grown in Asia and as paper mills have closed in the United States.
Until October, more than a third o
f the country's recycled paper was sent abroad. The vast majority was loaded onto tankers headed to China, where mills turn it into corrugated cardboard boxes often used to package televisions and stereos before they are shipped back to the United States. With the economic downturn, fewer people are buying products that require these boxes, and the export market for recycled paper has almost completely dried up.
Prices for recovered waste paper have plummeted to record lows. At the docks in Portland, recovered paper for export has fallen from a peak of nearly $200 per ton in July to about $20 per ton today, if you can find a buyer. Domestically, prices have also plunged. Residential newsprint prices in the Northwest fell from a peak of $180 per ton in August to $20 per ton.
At over $40 per ton, the cost of land filling is too high to make recycling seem like a bad idea financially. Even if cities and towns had to pay for their paper to be recycled it would be cheaper than throwing away that paper as waste. But here in Douglas County where we have the last “free” landfill in the country, disposal is subsidized and folks are disinclined to pay. Most landfills charge about $70 per ton to just cover the cost of land filling and associated services. In this way, those who generate the waste pay for it instead of the burden being placed on the general population.
Even though recycling collections will likely continue, the plunge in demand means that not all old paper will not be immediately recycled into new paper products in the near future. But some leaders in the recycled paper industry remain optimistic about finding buyers for the bales of used paper and cardboard accumulating in warehouses. They predict that in a year, if not sooner, demand for recycled products will rebound. Some have seen recycled paper prices drop in the past and recover. Others think that domestic mills, still making tissue fiber and paperboard for packaging such products as cereal and pizza, could eventually pick up the slack in foreign demand. In the meantime, our partners in recycling, Sunrise Enterprises and local garbage haulers included, are going out of their way to weather the storm and stockpile materials as long as they can.
Be confident that our recycling programs will remain intact, but “Be Prepared” as the Scouts say, for temporary changes in what can and cannot be picked up curbside. Local haulers are in discussion with State officials for possible modifications to their obligations and may need to alter schedules or materials until recycling markets rebound.
For more information contact me at 440-4350 or online at RecyclePower.org and don’t forget to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle to “Trash Douglas County Less!”
Boxes and wrapping paper tossed into the recycling bins during the holidays typically are turned into pulp for tissues, cereal boxes, construction material, or cardboard packaging. But the recession has hit recycling companies just as hard in recent months by driving down demand and prices for their materials and the results can be seen at this Green, Oregon recycling plant: Less paper is getting sent out and more is piling up.
At a time when every dollar counts, organizations strapped for cash are receiving thousands less than their usual per month price for recycled fiber, plastics and metals. The decline in revenue, however, does not pose a large risk of ending recycling programs in Douglas County. Haulers are prohibited by state law from putting it into landfills after picking it up. The challenge is how do companies continue to pick up recycling with out their usual cash flow?
The heaps of bales are a vivid example of how industries and economies in disparate places rely on one another, and show how global market forces can challenge environmental efforts. Since 2000, increasing amounts of recycled paper have been exported as manufacturing has grown in Asia and as paper mills have closed in the United States.
Until October, more than a third o
f the country's recycled paper was sent abroad. The vast majority was loaded onto tankers headed to China, where mills turn it into corrugated cardboard boxes often used to package televisions and stereos before they are shipped back to the United States. With the economic downturn, fewer people are buying products that require these boxes, and the export market for recycled paper has almost completely dried up.Prices for recovered waste paper have plummeted to record lows. At the docks in Portland, recovered paper for export has fallen from a peak of nearly $200 per ton in July to about $20 per ton today, if you can find a buyer. Domestically, prices have also plunged. Residential newsprint prices in the Northwest fell from a peak of $180 per ton in August to $20 per ton.
At over $40 per ton, the cost of land filling is too high to make recycling seem like a bad idea financially. Even if cities and towns had to pay for their paper to be recycled it would be cheaper than throwing away that paper as waste. But here in Douglas County where we have the last “free” landfill in the country, disposal is subsidized and folks are disinclined to pay. Most landfills charge about $70 per ton to just cover the cost of land filling and associated services. In this way, those who generate the waste pay for it instead of the burden being placed on the general population.
Even though recycling collections will likely continue, the plunge in demand means that not all old paper will not be immediately recycled into new paper products in the near future. But some leaders in the recycled paper industry remain optimistic about finding buyers for the bales of used paper and cardboard accumulating in warehouses. They predict that in a year, if not sooner, demand for recycled products will rebound. Some have seen recycled paper prices drop in the past and recover. Others think that domestic mills, still making tissue fiber and paperboard for packaging such products as cereal and pizza, could eventually pick up the slack in foreign demand. In the meantime, our partners in recycling, Sunrise Enterprises and local garbage haulers included, are going out of their way to weather the storm and stockpile materials as long as they can.
Be confident that our recycling programs will remain intact, but “Be Prepared” as the Scouts say, for temporary changes in what can and cannot be picked up curbside. Local haulers are in discussion with State officials for possible modifications to their obligations and may need to alter schedules or materials until recycling markets rebound.
For more information contact me at 440-4350 or online at RecyclePower.org and don’t forget to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle to “Trash Douglas County Less!”
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Waste’s “Days” Are Numbered
There is a little known organization in the State of Oregon going around encouraging our students to dig through their own trash. Can you believe it? I certainly can.
The Oregon Green School Association ( http://www.oregongreenschools.org/ ) works with local waste reduction professionals such as myself to work with schools, educators, and students develop a greater understanding of how their behaviors impact local environments and
economies. This is done through a membership process that requires the applicants to monitor, measure, and analyze their energy consumption and waste generation. Armed with this data, the schools, staff, and students develop new systems to employ to save the school money and protect our natural resources. Once complete, the school becomes certified as an “Oregon Green School” and the students get to attend an annual education summit for free and apply for small grants to help them with their programs.
Currently only Hucrest Elementary is certified in our area. Roseburg High School, Highland Elementary in Reedsport, and Eastwood Elementary are all in various stages of implementation here in Douglas County.
Most recently, Days Creek Charter School has accepted the challenge to tackle the greening of their school. Teacher Janis Davis created a club in the school recently, called the “Green Team”. This group of students is made up of teens from all segments of the school and each and every one of them has a true interest in fostering sustainability with their peers and e
ducators. So far, they have presented recycling education at local community events, expanded their school recycling program to include all paper, beverage containers, cardboard, and metal. They themselves coordinate the collection of this material and partner with Sunrise Enterprises for local pick up from a school out building that has been recently given to them.
This week in the cold December morning air, eight students and their teacher braved the chill and joined me in a waste audit. This is an essential element to their application process for consideration to be a “Green School”. You cannot know how your efforts are to be measured; with our first measuring the waste you are going to tackle.
The custodial staff at Days Creek was kind enough to collect one day’s waste from the school and deliver it behind the gym. There, hands covered in protective gloves, and after learning about safety, they dove right in to the task at hand; sifting through the pile and sorting the material into base materials. The teens were measuring by weight what would have been clean paper for recycling, plastic, metal, glass, food and food contaminated paper waste suitable for composting, and actual garbage.
Normally the process takes many hours considering the volume and the nature of the task. However, these kids are different. They want to do this. They want to make a difference. We completed the exercise in only 1 hour and 40 minutes, including clean up.
What they discovered may or may not surprise you. 200 pounds of waste was gathered, which did not include an unknown amount of slop that was not contained with in bags. Of t
hese 200 pounds, only 21 pounds was deemed to be actual waste. That is only 10%! The rest was all recyclable or Compostable.
They only separated out 12.5 pounds of paper. This is because most of the paper is already diverted via current recycling programs. 32.2 pounds of plastic cups, silverware, lids, cereal bowls, and bags were collected or 16%. Only 2 pounds each of metal and glass was discovered considering most beverage containers and cans from the kitchen are already collected separately for recycling as well. And one pound of electronic waste was found.
Most revealing from the event was the discovery of 131.3 pounds of food and food contaminated paper. 65% of the school’s waste was determined to be compostable and perfectly suitable to enrich the surrounding area instead of filling the dump.
Armed with this knowledge the students plan educating fellow students, school leadership, and the community about our responsibility to be good stewards of our natural resources. In this way, they plan on building a greener school in hopes that their efforts will foster sustainability outside the hallowed halls of Days Creek Charter and into the homes and businesses of Douglas County and beyond.
Pictured:
Janis Davis , Ranis Chapman , Joe Freeman , Amber Murphy , Stormy Terry , John Walters , Katelyn Wiggs , Michael Young , Jessica Stanfield
The Oregon Green School Association ( http://www.oregongreenschools.org/ ) works with local waste reduction professionals such as myself to work with schools, educators, and students develop a greater understanding of how their behaviors impact local environments and
economies. This is done through a membership process that requires the applicants to monitor, measure, and analyze their energy consumption and waste generation. Armed with this data, the schools, staff, and students develop new systems to employ to save the school money and protect our natural resources. Once complete, the school becomes certified as an “Oregon Green School” and the students get to attend an annual education summit for free and apply for small grants to help them with their programs.Currently only Hucrest Elementary is certified in our area. Roseburg High School, Highland Elementary in Reedsport, and Eastwood Elementary are all in various stages of implementation here in Douglas County.
Most recently, Days Creek Charter School has accepted the challenge to tackle the greening of their school. Teacher Janis Davis created a club in the school recently, called the “Green Team”. This group of students is made up of teens from all segments of the school and each and every one of them has a true interest in fostering sustainability with their peers and e
ducators. So far, they have presented recycling education at local community events, expanded their school recycling program to include all paper, beverage containers, cardboard, and metal. They themselves coordinate the collection of this material and partner with Sunrise Enterprises for local pick up from a school out building that has been recently given to them.This week in the cold December morning air, eight students and their teacher braved the chill and joined me in a waste audit. This is an essential element to their application process for consideration to be a “Green School”. You cannot know how your efforts are to be measured; with our first measuring the waste you are going to tackle.
The custodial staff at Days Creek was kind enough to collect one day’s waste from the school and deliver it behind the gym. There, hands covered in protective gloves, and after learning about safety, they dove right in to the task at hand; sifting through the pile and sorting the material into base materials. The teens were measuring by weight what would have been clean paper for recycling, plastic, metal, glass, food and food contaminated paper waste suitable for composting, and actual garbage.
Normally the process takes many hours considering the volume and the nature of the task. However, these kids are different. They want to do this. They want to make a difference. We completed the exercise in only 1 hour and 40 minutes, including clean up.
What they discovered may or may not surprise you. 200 pounds of waste was gathered, which did not include an unknown amount of slop that was not contained with in bags. Of t
hese 200 pounds, only 21 pounds was deemed to be actual waste. That is only 10%! The rest was all recyclable or Compostable.They only separated out 12.5 pounds of paper. This is because most of the paper is already diverted via current recycling programs. 32.2 pounds of plastic cups, silverware, lids, cereal bowls, and bags were collected or 16%. Only 2 pounds each of metal and glass was discovered considering most beverage containers and cans from the kitchen are already collected separately for recycling as well. And one pound of electronic waste was found.
Most revealing from the event was the discovery of 131.3 pounds of food and food contaminated paper. 65% of the school’s waste was determined to be compostable and perfectly suitable to enrich the surrounding area instead of filling the dump.
Armed with this knowledge the students plan educating fellow students, school leadership, and the community about our responsibility to be good stewards of our natural resources. In this way, they plan on building a greener school in hopes that their efforts will foster sustainability outside the hallowed halls of Days Creek Charter and into the homes and businesses of Douglas County and beyond.
Pictured:
Janis Davis , Ranis Chapman , Joe Freeman , Amber Murphy , Stormy Terry , John Walters , Katelyn Wiggs , Michael Young , Jessica Stanfield
Monday, December 1, 2008
Don't Tread On Me
Today there are some 300 million surplus tires in the United States. This number is decreasing every year as new opportunities emerge to reuse or recycle waste tires. When the surplus is gone, there will actually be a market for waste tires and it will become a commodity people will buy and sell. Today, it costs between one and two dollars to the generator to properly dispose of a passenger tire.
In the State of Oregon, tires are forbidden from entering the waste stream (landfill) by state statute. In order to accommodate this law here in Douglas County, tires can be taken to the transfer stations in Roseburg and Reedsport for recycling. A small fee applies for each tire. This is charged to cover the County’s expense to recycle. Better yet, allow your tire supplier to take them back for recycling when your new tires are installed.
It is also important to note that for generations, folks held onto tires for burning. Grandpa would always place several old tires coated in diesel fuel at the center of his burn pile every year. As effective as it was, it was a very dirty, polluting process that is now illegal. In Oregon it is only legal to burn paper, yard debris, and wood with proper permits.
Recycling tires is something that everyone should do as there are many negatives associated with not recycling tires including an ugly landscape, pollution, and disease. However, there are quite a few steps that can be instituted prior to recycling that will save you money in addition to keeping Douglas County clean:
·Keep a proper tire pressure. Having improperly inflated tires is a huge cause of tire damage. It can cause irregular wear as well as decreased gas mileage.
Now that you know at little bit more about prevention, let us talk about recycling tires.
Interestingly enough, recycling the rubber from scrap tires was very common until the 1960s when the practice began to die off. Because it became easier to make synthetic rubber, people found it less important to recycle their tires. Recycling tires also became more difficult when steel belted tires became popular. Fortunately, the recycling of tires has increased tremendously within the last decade as people have started to see the problems associated with scrap tires and new opportunities for reuse have developed.
What are the problems that arise when tires are not recycled?
In the State of Oregon, tires are forbidden from entering the waste stream (landfill) by state statute. In order to accommodate this law here in Douglas County, tires can be taken to the transfer stations in Roseburg and Reedsport for recycling. A small fee applies for each tire. This is charged to cover the County’s expense to recycle. Better yet, allow your tire supplier to take them back for recycling when your new tires are installed.
It is also important to note that for generations, folks held onto tires for burning. Grandpa would always place several old tires coated in diesel fuel at the center of his burn pile every year. As effective as it was, it was a very dirty, polluting process that is now illegal. In Oregon it is only legal to burn paper, yard debris, and wood with proper permits.
Recycling tires is something that everyone should do as there are many negatives associated with not recycling tires including an ugly landscape, pollution, and disease. However, there are quite a few steps that can be instituted prior to recycling that will save you money in addition to keeping Douglas County clean:·Keep a proper tire pressure. Having improperly inflated tires is a huge cause of tire damage. It can cause irregular wear as well as decreased gas mileage.
·Avoid braking and accelerating excessively.
·Keep on schedule with your tire rotation and check your wheel balance and alignment often.
·Inspect your tires at least once a month. Check for uneven wearing, cracks, splits in the tread, or other signs of damage.
·Overloading your vehicle can cause more wear on your tires, as well.
·Avoid driving on rough roads and over potholes or curbs.
·Replace your tires once the tread is down to 1/16th of an inch. Do not let a salesman convince you to get rid of them sooner unless there is an added, important reason!
·Just because you have one or two bad tires, it does not mean that you need an entirely new set of four tires.·Use retreads. They are just as safe as new tires.
Now that you know at little bit more about prevention, let us talk about recycling tires.
Interestingly enough, recycling the rubber from scrap tires was very common until the 1960s when the practice began to die off. Because it became easier to make synthetic rubber, people found it less important to recycle their tires. Recycling tires also became more difficult when steel belted tires became popular. Fortunately, the recycling of tires has increased tremendously within the last decade as people have started to see the problems associated with scrap tires and new opportunities for reuse have developed.
What are the problems that arise when tires are not recycled?
For one thing, discarded tires are an eyesore. But even properly disposed of scrap tires can create problems. A tire dump is a known breeding ground for mosquitoes, considered to be a disease “vector”. Mosquito borne diseases are more prevalent around properties with numerous tires stockpiled on them. I have personally witnessed farmland with over 2,000 tires on them right here in Douglas County!
Tire pile fires are a huge environmental problem. Such a fire can go on burning for months, and while it is burning, it sends up a huge plume of black smoke, full of toxic chemicals and pollutants. The oily runoff, full of toxic chemicals caused by tire fires can make its way into surrounding water supplies.
Recycling tires is a very important step toward lessening the negative impacts that tires can have on the environment (but remember: reducing unnecessary use of tires is the best way to trash our county less).
What can recycled tires be used for?
Since recycled tire rubber can be cheaper than making new rubber for some products, it is used for many things such as an asphalt additive, mulch groundcover, road cone bases, and rigid plastics. When crumb rubber is mixed with asphalt, the asphalt is less likely to crack. And you have probably seen recycled rubber padding the ground beneath children’s playgrounds, as well. It appears that recycling tires can create safer environments, too!
The number one reuse opportunity for tires is conversion to energy. Most tires collected for recycling are delivered to cement kilns to be burned in order to fire their industrial processes. Last year Douglas County alone sent away 713 tons of tires for recycling.
Remember by Reducing, Reusing, and Recycling together we can “Trash Douglas County Less”!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
