R.A.G. TIMES
Recycling Assoc. of Guam
President/Publisher: Paul Tobiason
Aug.2009
thru
Aug.2010
Web site: www.guamrecycling.org
e-mail: tobiasonp@teleguam.net
Treasurer/Secretary: Berrie & Nene Straatman
What has R.A.G. accomplished ?
1. On 25.Oct.2009, we had a very enjoyable award ceremony for the Pyramid International Recycling Company. Nine
(9) of their employees had a great brunch. RAG gave a very nicely done Appreciation Award plaque with several
employee photos on it. And, the local newspapers carried a group photo and a brief write up.
2. Our web site (www.guamrecycling.org) had a major overhaul. Beth and Elaine, UOG students, put in a lot of
work and innovation to improve this. The previous version did not have any photos. The new version has quite a few
photos. If you haven't visited the site recently, please take a look at it. RAG is grateful to these two students, their
professor, Dr. Frank Lee, and the University of Guam.
3. We used our funds to have 4 environmental messages placed in the placemats or trayliners for Domino's Pizza
and Winchell's doughnuts. We can only hope that this resulted in some education for Guam residents.
4. RAG purchased five (5) copies of the book, “The Story of Stuff”. This was written by Annie Leonard to describe
how society shops to buy stuff and thus uses the natural
resources of our planet.
As 2009 faded into history and 2010 arrived,
I asked if any RAG members or friends made environmental resolutions? Here are some answers:
One has resolved to build a compost pile. The RAG
composting brochure on our web site will help he said.
Another has offered “free labor”during the year to help
neighbors build and maintain a compost pile.
A young lady resolved to wash all her household steel
food cans, put them in a bag and when enough recycle
them at Pyramid in Harmon.
One teacher says he will include discussions on environmental responsibility to the 250 students he will see during
the year.
One who regularly runs for health and exercise will continue to pick up the litter left by our slobs.
So, there you have some resolutions from a few of your neighbors. Please consider what you could do for 2010.
...Would you consider this?....
“How heavy is my footprint upon the Earth?”
Do I consume only what I actually need?
Or, do I waste food by taking too much?
Do I use perhaps a gallon of water to wash my coffee cup or a spoon when I could have reduced the flow from the
faucet? Do I leave the TV or computer monitor on when no one is really there?
Our greenwaste and C&D, What can residents do?
The Northern Hardfill is the facility near the back gate to Andersen AFB that accepts grass, leaves, branches, etc.
and rocks, rebars with concrete and blocks.. (C&D means construction and demolition material). The company is
Primo's Heavy Equipment, tel: 888.2620. There is a charge so call first.
There is a sign on the main road (route 15) to identify the Northern Hardfill. Because of the distance one must travel,
this location is definitely not convenient for most Guam residents. But, its what we have at this time.
While it is good that we have some place to deliver this material, the facility should be composting all the green
waste. That way we could use this for soil improvements in places where our tourists frequent.
And, I was told that one of the candidates for Guam Governor would like to have a large scale composting operation.
I think most people have not seen what happens to grass, leaves, coffee grounds, and other organic waste when it
completes the composting process. The end product is a very nice soil amendment (ie: almost potting soil) which
is often purchased in stores such as Ace Hardware and Home Depot. Compost is something we can make right here
on our island home....a home grown product.
What looks like a mess going in, is transformed to an end product that is a valuable product.
Pat Rankin...where is she?
If you've been wondering about Pat Rankin, she's moved from Guam to Texas.
Some of you may recall that Pat was a RAG member that had no problem with showing up for an event on short
notice in spite of her traveling distance (Malesso).
And she had no problem spouting off to our lawmakers.
As age advanced, life was getting a bit difficult. (We are all going to face that.) Thanks for Atilana Rambayon, Albert,
Art Mergist, Nancy and Bill Weare, Becky North, Sandy, Jack and Ginny Caceres, Ruth and Wayne Kruckenburg and
Pat's nephew all her belongings were put in order. Her nephew and neice were contacted. They came to Guam and
helped to sell her house and leave Guam.
Paul sent her a card on behalf of R.A.G.
Many of us enjoyed Pat and now wish her well in Texas.
First Lady, Joanne Camacho and S.T.A.R.T.
Have you seen the environmental messages on TV??
If you watch, ch. 12, KGTF-TV then perhaps you have. She has created a very persuasive video of local
personalities explaining ways they use to minimize waste or recycle things.
She is trying to motivate Guam residents to have a change of attitude about our environment.
The acronym, S.T.A.R.T., means Simple Tasks Aimed
at Reducing Trash.
She was on K57 with Travis Kaufman on Tuesday, 16.Feb.2010 describing her program.
We can only hope that her effort will help to improve the attitude and behavior of some Guam residents.
Payless Markets have opened
a new store
It is in Mangilao and this should make shopping so much more convenient for residents in this area.
AND, they are making a serious effort at being more “GREEN” this year by placing recycling containers at the store
entrance. Employees are instructed that they are to be actively involved and responsive to this effort.
What a waste incinerator can do to your community
The city of Harrisburg, PA is facing serious financial problems with payments for their waste incinerator which
cost $288 million. Of their $68 million due this year they
had a March payment of $2 million. The city controller,
Mr. Miller commented that “bankruptcy is inevitable”.
RAG members Nancy and Bill Weare saw this item.
Burning trash can reduce the volume but its expensive.
But, it should not be considered as recycling since it destroys the natural resources
What about our junk tires?
Guam auto dealers and tire shops continue to bring them in and sell them. But, where is the proper disposal or reuse
system? What?!?!....No one could FORSEE that these would someday become a disposal problem?
Some have been chopped up and remain sitting in a large pile in Harmon. Then there is the pile of tires in the rear of
the DPW facility in Tumon. The Marianas Variety newspaper did a story on this 14.May.2009 and had a photo of the
pile of tires at DPW.
In the Resource Recycling magazine, July.2009, I read that Massachusetts has proposed legislation to put a $5.00
deposit fee on each purchased tire. (Bill SB-384)
This would mean that money is already in place for disposal. Someone buying a new tire and having to dispose of
the old one would not have to also pay a
disposal fee.
Another way to look at this is to realize that the tire will never be totally worthless. It will still be worth $5.00.
On 03.May.2010, RAG participated in a round-table discussion on the tire disposal issue. At the Guam EPA
conference room were local tire importers/distributors,
tire recyclers, the federal US EPA, and Guam EPA and
Saipan CNMI/DPW. There were 21 attendees.
We learned that there is a local recycling company that has a machine costing $1 million dollars. It de-beads
(removes the steel wires and nylon fibers), chops up the tires and grinds it into a powder. Then they put it into a
shipping container and send it off-island to a buyer.
Americans buy about 28 billion water bottles a year
The Pacific Institute calculates that the process of making the plastic bottles for the water bottles consumed in the
U.S. uses approximately 17 million barrels of oil per year.
Here's an excerpt of a New York Governor press release, May.2009.
“Bottled water is wasteful and requires large amounts of energy to bottle and transport. Over 450 million gallons of oil
are used to transport water from bottling plants to stores. In the United States, plastic water bottle manufacturing
uses 17 million barrels of oil, producing over 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide pollution. Eighty percent of these
bottles, which are equal to four billion pounds, end up in garbage incinerators or landfills.”
Note: The Exxon Valdez tanker oil spill in Alaska in 1989
was 11 million barrels.
For we who live on Guam or other small islands, would it not make sense to buy locally produced bottled water
especially in the refillable 5-gallon container?
So if you might wonder how much oil is used to make one plastic bottle, consider this: pour crude oil into a plastic
bottle until its one-third full (about 30%) and that's the amount of oil needed to make one plastic bottle.
This is based on not only the oil to make the bottle but how much oil is used to manufacture, ship and store the
bottle. Why are we importing water anyway?
(Source: answers.com )
Pyramid told me at their award presentation (Oct.2009) that they had filled seven (7) large shipping containers and
these have letf Guam to the recycling plant.
That's 33,000 tons I'm told but it is the volume that would have been taken up at the Ordot dump that is the most
important point to understand.
Here's something to visualize to give you the idea....
A football field fill with plastic bottles 33 feet high.
How big is your pile?
From time to time I ask Guam residents about the amount of trash they have to deal with.
Many tell me that they create about 3-4 bags each
week. That would be 12-16 each month.
But, couldn't families reduce that volume if an earnest effort were made to reduce, recycle and compost?
Some R.A.G. members and friends have only 1-3
in a month. Why not share ideas with your neighbor?
They might not know how to recycle some items.
The less trash we residents send to the Ordot dump
is a “good thing” for Guam.
Cigarette butts, litter, fires
In Feb.2009 I had some correspondence with Senator Temorio and Guam Fire Dept. Chief Peredo.
The subject was the many cigarette butts that are tossed everywhere and the many backyard fires we all see.
They see the problems but have a hard time at enforcement. Sen. Tenorio prefers to give citations but that doesn't
seem to happen often. He said that these problems are a “sore point” with him. He did introduce
a bill on this.
For the litter problem I described my daily practice picking up the cigarette butts, cans, wrappers, etc. Since I can see
it, I should not step over it. I can't stop people from littering but I can try to be a good role model.
For the backyard fires I just call 911 and they send a truck out to check. Sometimes they can't even find the fire.
But when they do, they just remind the homeowner.
They don't usually give a citation. Sen. Tenorio's bill would allow GFD to do this.
My preference would be a “Reminder Report” for both
littering and fires. This would become a record but no fine or other penalty. It would make the resident aware that
they have been advised and are on record. Plus, I think enforcement officers would be more willing to give a written
and signed reminder than a citiation.
For a real citation on littering, I offered the suggestion for
a public law such that a person would pay a $1.00 fine
plus perform 1,000 feet of roadside cleanup.
Please email or phone a talk-show or a senator with your thoughts on this issue. How else will they know?
As UOG President Underwood once said:
....We have to change the "mind-set"....
Congratulations to Peggy Denny, the folks from 369 GovGuam Credit Union and the Green Army of our
University of Guam. For the July Liberation Day parade and carnival they cleaned trash and collected many
recyclable materials. This kept material out of the Ordot dump but served to educate many Guam residents.
The Pacific Daily News covered this.
Vetiver grass, sewage treatment,
and soil erosion
Thanks to Dr. Mohammed Golabi of our University of Guam a presentation was given at our 29.Aug.2009
R.A.G. Meeting.
At the southern sewage treatment facility he set up a system using floating plots of Vetiver grass to filter and clean
the sewage water.
The results were quite good but it was only a small pilot project and now needs to be greatly expanded.
But, this will likely not happen without letter or emails from the community expressing interest.
For treating sewage, he found that it is much more economical than the present system. This means it saves money.
Don't we want to spend less????
Also, this same grass, Vetiver, has proven very effective against soil erosion. We have a lot of this in the southern
part of Guam. I've planted some on a very steep hillside near my home. The very deep rooting system will help to
prevent soil slippage.
...And you drive thru that smoke...
In the Jan.1997, the PDN news staff had an article on testing cars for emissions. The bill was introduced by then
Senator Felix Camacho.
How many of us have complained about the black smoke coming from buses? Of course, we have the Guam EPA
and they should and can cite them. So why are they still on the road?
Residents need to call the Guam EPA, speak out on talk radio, write a letter to the newspaper. My personal solution
is to send a “Resident Emission Report” to the
Guam EPA. This gives them a written record with a date.
Try this: luong.truong@epa.guam.gov
If everyone just waits “for someone else” to take action, things just won't change.
So for those who won't do anything....perhaps you don't mind driving through that black smoke...
The Seven Types of Plastic
Why are most plastics marked with a number inside a recycling symbol? The simple answer is that each number
represents the type of resin made to produce the plastic.
Because each resin is different, these numbers affect how and where you can recycle plastics. You don’t have to
remember the name. Plastics are identified by numbers one through seven.
Here’s some common products you’ll find of each type:
#1 PET (Polyethylene terephthalate)*: soda bottles, oven-ready meal trays and water bottles
#2 HDPE (High-density polyethylene)*: milk bottles, detergent bottles and grocery/trash/retail bags
#3 PVC (Polyvinyl chloride): plastic food wrap, loose-leaf binders and plastic pipes. (Major source of dioxin)
#4 LDPE (Low-density polyethylene): dry cleaning bags, produce bags and squeezable bottles
#5 PP (Polypropylene): medicine bottles, aerosol caps, drinking straws and food containers (such as yogurt, ketchup
bottles and sour cream/butter/hummus tubs)
#6 PS (Polystyrene): compact disc jackets, packaging Styrofoam peanuts and plastic tableware
#7 Other: reusable water bottles, certain kinds of food containers and Tupperware
*PET and HDPE are the most common forms of plastic, so they are the easiest types to find locations where they are
accepted for recycling.
Wastewater.....who cares?
Many of you may not be interested in the wastewater
projects and ideas from Ecowaters. But, they have what appears to be a good book. Plus, they at least tell us that
instead of letting our grey water just go down the drain, we could put it to an additional use first.
Ecowaters Projects develops, promotes and demonstrates better wastewater management systems and practices, with an emphasis on source-separation and utilization
approaches.
...Because the best way to deal with pollution and wastes is to avoid creating the problem in the first place.