Garbage a renewable resource, recycler advises
By Meg Springer
Of th« Knwrald
Lane County generates
enough garbage to fill Autzen
Stadium to the rim seven times
a year, according to Peter Gutt
chen of Begin Recycling in
Natural Groups (BRING).
Garbage disposal is a serious
problem in Eugene and nation
wide. The United States throws
away 200 million tons of gar
bage a year, and landfill space is
becoming scarce, according to
pamphlets distributed by
BRING.
Environmental officials say
the offshore barge that has been
at sea more than 40 days packed
with 3,100 tons of garbage from
Long Island, N.Y., is a clear in
dication of the garbage disposal
problem facing the nation.
"Seventy-five percent of the
garbage we throw away can be
recycled,” said Guttchen. who
is the community educator for
BRING. "Recycling also ex
tends the life of a landfill."
BRING is a non-profit Lane
County organization dedicated
to recovering and recycling
materials from the waste
stream. It has been providing
recycling opportunities and •
educational information to pro- •
mote recycling since 1971.
"I’m spreading the gospel '
about recycling. It's one way
that the individual can make a
difference in the environment,”
Guttchen said.
"We're a clearinghouse of in
formation on recycling.” said
BRING manager Lissa
Weinholt. "We offer slide
presentations for all community
groups and send out informa
tion about starting recycling
operations all over the nation
People call us with questions all
the time."
Oregon is one of the na
tion’s leaders in resource con
servation and pollution reduc
tion. In 1972. Oregon enacted
the "Bottle Bill." which offers a
deposit for some returned
beverage containers
In July 19H«, the "Recycling
Opportunity Act" went into ef
fect in Oregon It state’s that.
every Oregonian must be given
the opportunity to recycle. .In
cities with a population of 4,000
or more, monthly curbside,
pickup of recydables must be
provided.
Glass, aluminum, newspaper,
cardboard, brown paper bags,
scrap metal and motor oil all
can be recycled. By spending a
few minutes recycling each day.
said Guttchen. an individual
can save money on garbage col
lection costs, conserve energy
and natural resources, and
reduce air and water pollution
generated in the re
manufacturing process.
Kocycled glass from Lane
Gounty is sent to Owens-Illinois
Glass Co. in Portland, where it
is melted down and turned into
new glass containers. Recycling
one glass jar saves enough
energy to light a 100-watt
lightbulb for four hours, accor
ding to Guttchen.
Re-using glass containers
saves energy 100 percent. Gutt
chen said.
The United States has no
domestic source of raw tin. so
recycling tin would ease the
United States' dependence on
foreign imports, he added
Oregon also leads the nation
in newspaper recycling.
Seventy-five percent of all
newspaper! produced within
the state are recycled, compared
to the nation's average of 30
percent. Recycling old
newspapers cuts down on air
pollution, water pollution and
saves trees.
Manufacturing aluminum is a
very energy-intensive process,
and recycling can save 95 per
cent of that energy.
Plastics are not yet recyclable
and pose a major problem. It
takes 500 years for plastics in a
landfill to decay.
“Buy products in recyclable
containers instead of plastic or
styrofoam,” Guttchen said.
"Forty percent of the price you
pay is for packaging.”
He also recommended buying
bulk food in paper bags and
then re-using those bags
“Garbage is a very valuable
resource, but people have to be
constantly reminded about
recycling it.” Guttchen said.
"People are lazy. They'll recy
cle for a few months and just
quit."
For more information about
BRING, call 740-3023
'Alpine Fire' lets anger, emotion
burn in sedate Swiss mountains
By Jackie Barry
Of U» Emerald
Lush photography and emo
tional turmoil make excellent
partners in ihe Swiss-German
release "Alpine Fire." which
will open tomorrow at the Bijou
Theatre.
A boy's primeval journey
from chHdhood to adulthood
dominates the theme. The boy.
a deaf mute, is a descendant of
an “irascible'' (angry)
bloodline.
The film's action consists of
an extremely effective blend of
nonverbal and verbal com
munication enhanced by the
documentation of the daily
rituals performed by the boy’s
four-member family on their
remote Alpine farm.
Nearly self sufficient, the
family hikes to the nearest road
(which we never see) and com
municates with other mountain
side dwellers through arm wav
ing and laundry line patterns
seen through binoculars
Each family member feels the
pull toward civilization, but to
different degrees
Belli feels it the most. She
listens to a small yellow radio
and reads under the bedcovers
while the rest of the family
begins tlie chores of the day
milking, washing in the cold
water of the trough, cooking
breakfast.
The father feels it the least.
He doesn't want the boy to at
tend a special school for the
deaf and fears his educated
daughter's head is being filled
with "notions."
The boy feels uncontrollable
anger at times. He plays pranks
and wreaks havoc when the
urge becomes too strong. He
steals Belli's radio and smashes
it in the stone water trough,
hooks an electric fence wire to
the dog's metal food dish. and.
breaking the last straw, pushes
a gas mower over the edge of a
cliff because it won’t start
The father says the boy's got
the devil in him but. being from
the same irascible bloodline,
the father understands to a
degree and tries to harness his
son's violent adolescent
behavior by assigning him the
task of building a stone retain
ing wall from a rock face which
must be chipped and
transported.
After destroying the gas
mower, the boy knows he's
gone too far and retreats to a
higher alp where he builds
ritualistic stone towers
Director Kredi Murer also
wrote the screenplay for this
film It's his first feature film
after two decades of documen
tary making.
He combed Kurope for the
performers who play belli and
the boy.
The portrayals of these and
the other four characters work
ed so well together, a viewer
might mistake them for a real
family. Murers script and
direction must have contibuted
to this success, as well. .
The breathtaking photo quali
ty includes frequent use of sub
jective views through
binoculars or telescopes and
voyeur-like reflections in mir
rors and through windows.
The visuals and story content
are laced with sound ranging
from well used silence, to the
ambience of farm animals and
chores, to dramatic bits of
orchestration.
The irony of the family
member's love for each other
and the conflicts between them
unleashes a surprising conclu
sion laden with tragedy and
liberation.
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