City Environmental Services launches educational effort to increase city's recycling program
By Katherine Eissler
An environmental video targeted at young Laredoans and a giant globe-headed mascot named Toby Globy are two of the educational tools the city's Environmental Services Department has implemented to increase the city's recycling efforts.
The video targets children in kindergarten through second grade and focuses on simple, straightforward examples of ways to keep the community clean, such as littering and water pollution, things they might see their parents do.
“We teach them these things and deputize them so they notice violations,” said John Porter, manager of Environmental Services. “We want to reach them young so when they reach middle school they will already be seasoned about recycling.”
Environmental Services has also produced a sing-along video to teach children the importance of preserving their planet. The video will air on the city's Public Access Channel later in the summer and will also be distributed to elementary schools and middle schools for teachers to work into their lessons.
Laredo school children are also learning a common sense approach to the value of recycling through the City of Laredo/SBC partnership, Project ReDirectory, which turns old phone books into cash. Project ReDirectory is in its 11 th year.
Solid Waste director Oscar Medina said city efforts to encourage recycling have been good, but overall progress has been flat. The abolition of the position of recycling coordinator two years ago after the split between the public works and solid waste departments kept recycling collection from growing, said Medina. That position, however, is now being advertised.
According to Medina, North Laredo residents are more diligent about recycling than their South Laredo counterparts.
The advent of automated garbage container pickup and a separate pickup for trash and blue bag recyclables has had a favorable effect on recycling, said Medina.
The city's private sector partnership with Southern Sanitation, with whom the city contracted nine years ago to build a recycling center adjacent to the city landfill and sub-contracted to sell the materials collected, launched the recycling effort in Laredo. With the upcoming end to the $981,892 Southern Sanitation contract next year, the city is evaluating its relationship with Southern Sanitation in terms of cost and benefits, said Medina, adding that among the benefits are the use of one blue collection bag for co-mingled recyclable items and separation of the items at the site by Southern Sanitation. Of the three-part contract, $941,800, plus interest earned, plus one percent of gross receipts, and $1,500 a month, is solely devoted to the building and equipping of the recycling center. An additional benefit, said Medina, is the overall operation of the recycling process by Southern Sanitation.
Encouraged by City Manager Larry Dovalina's implementation of a recycling plan for City Hall, city employees are now recycling paper and plastics -- items that before went into trashcans and the city landfill -- in “recycle-baskets” placed at each employee's desk.
According to the City Manager's office, City Hall collected 24,982 pounds of recycled material between March and December of 2003, and this year's numbers are steadily increasing. The Legal Department alone collected 3,059 pounds in April 2004 while the Finance Department successfully recycled 5,506 pounds of material in May 2004. According to these numbers, if the trend continues City Hall will exceed their totals from 2003.
“The best way to lead is by example,” said Dovalina, “and we at city hall are very proud of all of our efforts to help conserve, reuse, reduce, and recycle, not just on Earth Day, but everyday.”
The city has other programs that allow residents to recycle.
Operation Clean Up, a monthly mission that addresses health and safety issues within 20-block areas, is comprised of a task force that includes the Community Development Department, the Building and Zoning Departments, the Health Department, Animal Control, and the Police and Fire departments.
Properties are checked for code violations that may be detrimental to the occupant's safety, and homeowners are educated on some of the codes and rules they need to know as property owners. Junk accumulation, high weeds, and abandoned vehicles are the major violations, according to Community Development director Erasmo Villarreal.
Inspectors inform owners of violations and allow them the opportunity to correct the problem and remove the debris before issuing a citation.
“This program ensures cleanliness in Laredo and provides structured living environments,” said Villarreal.
Problems occur not only when homeowners don't know the rules of owning property but also when they don't know what is recyclable.
“Many Laredoans need to be educated on recycling and what is actually recyclable,” said ESD's Porter. Milk jugs are surprisingly not recyclable. Wet newspapers are often not accepted either because they are sold by the pound, and the moisture increases their weight in turn increasing the price, which discourages buyers.
Tires, which earn the donor 50 cents per tire, and cardboard are the biggest moneymakers, but they take away from the city's revenue.
“People are paid as an incentive to bring in the tires, but the city loses landfill space and money because they can't charge for their disposal,” Porter said.
Webb County has recently explored the option of using the old tires to produce asphalt rubber, a material used for paving roads. Tires are ground into a pulp, resulting in a substance called “crumb rubber,” and mixed with asphalt to create a more durable, flexible, and quieter alternative to regular asphalt.
According to the Asphalt Rubber Technology Service in Clemson, South Carolina, buried tires can “float” to the surface and become exposed, which provides an excellent breeding ground for insects, especially mosquitoes, which carry West Nile virus and Dengue fever. Tires are also a fire hazard.
According to Porter, the recycling of electronics is not a moneymaker for the city because it actually costs the city money to dispose of them. Electronics, such as computers and CD players, are often reused, but antiquated models are dismantled and heavy metals are extracted and then melted down to resell at a cost of 30 cents a pound.
Of the hazardous household materials collected at ESD's bi-annual collection, paint accounts for 56 percent. Anti-freeze, solvents, mercury, and batteries are other major materials that are accepted, along with tires.
According to Porter, household hazardous materials are not actually recycled but are instead usually deep-well injected in landfills or neutralized.
Deep-well injection is the process by which hazardous wastes are placed deep within the ground.
“Deep-well injection is legal, but it's not really disposing of hazardous waste, it's just storing it,” Porter said. “Leaving hazardous materials on our watershed would cause a lot more harm if we didn't do this.”
Mayor Betty Flores expressed hope for the future of recycling.
“Our environmental departments are spending money on education, which is key, and the City Council and I have identified and promoted these issues as a priority for the city strategic planning sessions,” Flores said. “Together we can make a difference.”
For further information on recycling, contact Public Works at 795-2500 or ESD at 794-1650.
Blue Bags at Curbside
• Newsprint, Cardboard, Magazines, Copy Paper
• Plastic Bottles
• Aluminum & Steel Cans
Clark Boulevard Drop-Off
2201 McPherson @ Clark Blvd.,
727-5406
• Newsprint, Cardboard, Magazines, Copy Paper
• Plastic Containers
• Aluminum & Steel Cans
Environmental Services Drop-Off at Landfill
Wednesday 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. & First Saturday Every Month
• Household Hazardous Waste
• Cleaners, Solvents, Paint
• Car Batteries
• Oil
(All of the above and tires accepted at Bi-Annual Household Hazardous Waste Collections. Computers & electronics accepted on advertised collection dates.)
