I
harry esteve
Recyclers trash litter
i
They’re called compulsive
Some people cannot walk into
a dirty room without cleaning it
up Others cannot live in a
trashy world without trying to do
something about the mess
Recyclers are some of those
"others
At a statewide gathering of
recyclers last weekend in Sea
side. Ore , a panel of market
representatives explained that
because of economic condi
tions, recycling organizations
probably won't be able to sell
collected materials
They said the market for old
newspapers was down because
the housing industry was de
pressed. and much recycled
newsprint goes into making
housing construction materials
They said less recycled
aluminum was needed because
the beverage container industry
was emphasizing plastics
The recyclers listened
patiently and politely, applaud
ing when the panel was fin
ished
Later that night, they sat on
barstools at a local Seaside
hangout and quaffed beer
Spirits were high
It was not as if they hadn't
heard, but it didn't seem to
matter They had been hearing
the same predictions since they
got into the recycling business
For some, that represented
more than a decade — and
plenty of reasons to have a few
beers 10 years of waking up
every morning to sort empty
bottles into colors, smash steel
food cans, bale cardboard,
stack newspapers and filter old
motor oil
Ten years of cleaning up
Oregon's waste for little recog
Activist hits
arms race
The key to stopping the nu
clear arms race is citizen invol
vement in local activist organ
izations. according to a repre
senatative of Citizens Action for
Lasting Security
Hal Darst spoke Wednesday
at a workshop titled "What You
Can Do to Stop the Arms Race"
in Allen Hall
"A lot of people have prob
lems getting involved in this is
sue because it's such a huge
problem." Darst said "But we
don't have any enemies in this
struggle The truth is on our
side All we have to do is raise
the issue "
The United States has more
than 30,000 strategic and
tactical nuclear weapons, Darst
said "When we understand that
30,000 nuclear weapons could
easily destroy the world, the
question becomes, why do we
build more?'
Oregon Dally Emerald
nition called for a few more
The next day — back at the
conference — the keynote
speaker was from the U S En
vironmental Protection Agency
No more recycling money
from Uncle Sam, he said The
United States is dismantling its
federal recycling program.
Again, they listened politely,
laughed at his jokes, and that
night they partied even harder
Even then, the talk centered
around recycling Who was
paying the best price for
cardboard? How would a small
non-profit recycling outfit in
Bend collect enough paper to
make trucking it to Portland
economical?
Next morning they were back
at the conference for one more
day of speeches and work
shops Two certified public
accountants lectured on how to
keep finances straight in a non
profit company.
The head of a successful
recycling program in Colorado
described methods for promot
ing recycling to the community
A few hours after the confer
ence ended Sunday afternoon,
some of the recyclers climbed a
hill that overlooked some of the ^
lush area just south of Seaside.
At the top, they stopped and
took photographs of the coast- |
line below and gazed at the
view
The hills rising up to the south
were sheared bald of their trees
from timber industry clear cuts,
and a large sandy clearing
marked a giant landfill waste
disposal site, only a few
hundred yards from the ocean
For the first time in three
weeks, the recyclers looked
tired
.jrm .
WERE
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