R.A.G. TIMES
Web site: www.guamrecycling.org
President/Publisher: Paul Tobiason
Nov. 2007
thru
Recycling Assoc.May.2008
of Guam
e-mail: tobiasonp@teleguam.net
Treasurer/Secretary: Berrie & Nene Straatman
“The UOG students visit the
Ordot dump”
Some students thought that 80% of the discarded
material a the Ordot dump could have been recycled in
some way. As of Oct.2007, our GovGuam continued to
On 16.Oct.2007, Professor Kirk Johnson who teaches
operate the dump.
Sociology at our University of Guam brought 14 of his
Although there are local companies that take various
students to the Ordot dump as part of his course. As the items for recycling, these recyclable materials still get
photo shows it was not a pleasant experience for
into the dump. A private operator or a federal agency
several. The smell was so bad that, in addition to a
could exercise much stronger control to keep recyclable
mask, some held their nose.
and compostable materials out of the dump.
The students noted that there were discarded television
sets, a computer monitor, an industrial gas cylinder,
coconut fronds, cardboard, office paper and other
material that should never been allowed to be dumped.
“A Decision on the incinerator
contract….finally”
The 02.Mar.2007 issue of the Pacific Daily News carried
a story about the Guam Supreme Court and the GRRP
Waste-to-Energy (incinerator) contract. Two of the three
judges decided that it was invalid due to a
compensation clause.
Senator Pangelinan and Mayor Wesley had pushed on
this issue so it appears to be finally over-and-done-with.
I was told that if it is appealed it would have to go to the
US Federal Supreme Court.
GRRP can, however, negotiate another contract with
GovGuam (ie: Guam residents/taxpayers).
Personally, I would want no part of burning waste as a
way to “manage” it. Recycling and composting work well
and lessen greenhouse gases.
File
nam e:
RAG
Later, some of these students started recycling efforts
at home thus becoming part of the solution.
And...“A Decision on the
Ordot Dump ….finally”
About 19.Mar.2008, District Court Chief Judge Frances
Gatewood made a decision to have the Ordot dump go
to a receiver. This private company, Gershman,
Brickner & Bratton, Inc., has offices in Virginia and
Tennessee.
By April GBB personnel visited Guam. It looks like it will
take some time for us all to see major changes in the
dump operation and billing. However, in the first week of
May when I delivered our family's “one” bag of
household trash to the dump, I had to drive up an
embankment. At the top I was directed to deposit my
bag from my vehicle into the large metal container
below. This container is like the roll-off containers we
can see at large stores.
news letter
2007Nov_2008May.doc
2
R.A.G. TIMES
For now I am only charged $2.50. I do expect this to
increase but as long as I recycle and compost as much
as I can, my volume, and thus my cost, should be quite
reasonable.
This presentation was requested by the school
counselor, Mr. Edward Catahay. About fifty (50)
students from 5th to 8th grades learned about recycling
that day.
I am hoping that GBB will not allow organic waste such
as coconut fronds, leaves, grass, tree trimmings, etc. to
be dumped. Instead, I hope they will have a composting
operation for this material.
Recycling Association of Guam
2007 Financial Statement
INCOME:
“Palau President Remengesau is a role
model for a clean environment”
I have been told that President Tommy Remengesau
and his wife do morning exercise walks in Palau. As
they walk and see litter or aluminum cans, they pick
these up and put them in a plastic bag which they carry
along. While this by itself will not clean up all the litter, it
does illustrate how a leader sets a clear example for
other to emulate. If each of the 15,000 residents picked
up just a few pieces of litter each day, the litter problem
would virtually disappear and, I venture to say, very few
residents would continue to cast litter about in those
beautiful islands.
Membership dues $ 510.00
Donations
$ 80.00
Bag sales
$ 9.00
Total income
$ 599.00
EXPENSES: Printing and stationary $ 52.43
Postage
$ 36.31
Supplies
$ 55.33
Meeting expenses
$114.00
Trade subscription $ 80.00
Travel
$ 27.80
I have seen some photos of other island leaders on
Guam occasionally participating in a beach clean up or
planting a tree. But, is this just a 3 minute photo-op or
is it a day-after-day activity?
Total expenses
We've all heard the phrase: “Actions speak louder than
words.” We must not just talk environment, we must be
hands-on for our environment.
Income
$ 365.87
=========================
Bank balance as of 1/1/07 $ 1516.34
$ 599.00
Expenses ($ 365.87)
Bank balance as of 12/31/07 $ 1749.47
A few things from the schools
==========================
Someone at GWHS shared with me that Marine Mania
(a student environmental club) recycles about 150
pounds of aluminum per week and a truckload of
paper/cardboard each month.
However, GW still dumps more than they recycle. This
person voiced the opinion that “If the teachers don't get
it, how can we educate the masses!”
Also, our constitution by-laws amendment has been
filed with GovGuam.
==========================
Also, as a result of a recycling presentation to the
Catholic School principals' meeting at the Archdiocese
of Hagatna, R.A.G. was requested to made another
such presentation for the students at the Bishop
Baumgartner Memorial Catholic School in Sinajana.
Nene Straatman and Paul Tobiason showed the
students examples of pulverized glass, compressed
plastic and aluminum foil. We gave them our hand-out
sheets with suggestions for minimizing their home trash
through recycling and composting.
Just one (1) pound of aluminum....
While reading the Marianas Variety newspaper of
28.Apr.2008, I was very happy to learn that an important
fact.
Recycling 1 pound of aluminum cans avoids the
emissions of up to 11 pounds of carbon. And, 75% less
energy is needed to make items from recycled steel
than it does from new steel.
This may motivate some people to recycle rather than
the money the might get from the sale of the aluminum.
RAG displays
3
R.A.G. Had a display booth at the Kick-the-Fat running
event sponsored by Payless Markets on 15.Mar.2008.
We shared our ideas and hand-out literature with many
runners and other visitors.
The assistance of the Dungca Family (Barbara, Tom, &
Lia) plus the Straatman Family (Berrie, Nene, Agnes)
was essential. They came early and stayed late. Thanks
to all of you.
R.A.G. TIMES
The subject of a bottle bill was brought up.
The Lt. Gov. seemed to be saying that we cannot fight
the local beverage industry.
One member got the impression that he did not to want
to offend anyone.
On the subject of incineration he didn't have much to
say. We explained that this is not a method RAG could
support since it destroys natural resources.
Then all the littering was discussed and also graffiti.
Dr. Joseph had a good suggestion to approach all the
different churches to speak to their members about
littering etc.
Some felt that the meeting was a disapointment as the
discussions seemed very non-committal. However, our
meeting lasted for about 45min. and we were happy that
Lt. Governor Cruz allowed us this opportunity to discuss
these environmental issues with him.
R.A.G. was also participating in the Earth Day event
sponsored by the Guam EPA held on 26.April.2008
at Ipao Beach. It was a big event and hundreds of
Guam residents showed up. And they had a band and
various dance performers. We had no problem
“hearing” the band.....But, we did have a bit of a
problem trying to converse with visitors at our display
who had questions.
And, I must say that our table had a lot of visitors.
Folks were impressed by the pulverized glass and the
highly compressed steel cans.
And, each person left with more knowledge than they
came in with. Everyone seemed to want their little card
stamped. I believe they were to receive a Tee-shirt for
each completed card. But, we would not stamp any card
without the individual actually learning something about
recycling.
(Ok, ok....so we were mean and cruel...)
R.A.G. meets with Lt. Governor
On 10.Jan.2008 Seven (7) RAG members met with Lt.
Gov. Mike Cruz.
We discussed recycling or the lack of it.
It was pointed out that recyclers get no reward for
keeping waste out of the dump. To our surprise he was
not aware of executive order 2003-17 for all GovGuam
to reduce and recycle waste. However, he did
promise to follow up on that.
“Recycling….?
Its just too much trouble!”
How often have we heard folks say this or that its not
“worth” their effort. Happily I have noticed that I'm
hearing these excuses less and less. I feel that R.A.G.
has helped to raise awareness of Guam residents.
If you are a RAG member or friend, your weekly volume
of “trash” is probably quite small compared to others.
This can give you the opportunity to share information
with folks about what they can do to divert cardboard,
newspapers, office paper, aluminum, steel, etc. from
their trash bags. After all, don't we all want to minimize
the volume filling up Ordot?
A visualization often helps people understand. We all
are familiar with laundry. But, this “laundry” actually is
quite involved once you think about it.
First we have to toss our dirty shirt into a basket. Next
when there are enough clothes we have to haul them
out to the washing machine or drive to the laundromat.
If we have a machine, we have to add water, soap and
softener. (Imagine what we would have to do if there
were no washing machines!) After this machine has
done most of the heavy work for us, we have to hang
out each and every piece on the clothes line. Or, we
have to put them into the dryer which makes our power
meter spin faster. And we're not finished yet.
4
We have to make sure it doesn't rain and when dry we
have to collect the clean clothes. Finally we have to sort
each and every piece. They have to go into special
drawers or closets.
Ok, so we go through all these various steps, use of
water and electrical power, and money just so we can
“REUSE” the same clothes over and over. That, by the
way, is one of the recommendations (in addition to
recycling) that R.A.G. has been advocating for years.
Doing our laundry is not that much different from
“sensibly managing” what we discard each day. Rinsing
our aluminum soft drink can and putting it into a plastic
bag for recycling is not that hard and keeps things
sanitary. Rinsing the food residue from the steel can
and glass container also keeps things sanitary by
avoiding what would otherwise spoil and smell bad.
Putting the newspapers, office paper, envelopes,
magazines into separate boxes is like putting your
clothes in different drawers.
Finally, going to the laundromat is not that much
different from taking all that “recyclable” material to
those companies that accept it for off-island shipping.
You are right if you say that recycling and composting
takes time and effort. But, by doing so you actually
avoid an incredible amount of greenhouse gas
emissions plus water and electrical power waste.
R.A.G. TIMES
You may be just one person but multiply your efforts by
the thousands of other persons who make up our
population and you get BIG Numbers! Its attitude!
And, as one RAG member commented.....
“Home recycling is a piece of cake”
Climate change will affect
each and every one of us….
the guilty and the innocent alike
Recycling does help with this climate change problem.
Read the short excerpt below. You might even want to
visit the web site and read the whole article.
From the National Geographic Channel, The Human
Footprint, 13.Apr.2008.
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/humanfootprint/trash-talk.html
“By using recycled materials, the manufacturer creates
fewer greenhouse gases. Recycling also reduces
climate change emissions from incinerators and
landfills. “Recycling is a win-win in terms of global
warming pollution,” said Allen Hershkowitz, a senior
scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council
and director of its national solid waste project.”
So even if you have to drive to Harmon and deliver just
a few pounds of cardboard or aluminum you are helping
to avoid at least some greenhouse gases from going
into the atmosphere.