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SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2016
ASK A MASTER RECYCLER
S USY L ACER , M ASTER R ECYCLER
A MONTHLY COLUMN OF RECYCLING
INFORMATION PROVIDED BY F LORENCE
M ASTER R ECYCLERS
For the Siuslaw News
(A monthly column of recycling
information provided by Florence
Master Recyclers)
Q. Do you have any advice for
reducing the trash that always seems
to come with the holidays?
A. Yes, Lane County Waste
Management Division promotes a
“Less is Best” approach. There are
many ways to reduce waste while you
shop, work and play; fortunately,
these options often also result in sav-
ing you money.
It’s important to remember that our
choices as consumers have direct
impacts on local, national and global
environmental issues. For instance,
manufacturing the products that we
buy often requires the extraction of
natural resources, as well as trans-
portation-related resources to ship the
product to you.
Before you buy, consider if Less is
Best.
Some suggestions for a less trashy
holiday:
• Recycle those non-working holi-
day light strings and other electronics
at Next Step Recycling. They accept
almost any item that plugs in or
works on battery; visit nextsteprecy-
cling.org for details.
• Instead of shopping for another
“thing” for those on your gift list,
consider offering the gift of service:
offer to mend some clothing, walk a
dog or fix a leaky faucet. The gift of
your time will be much appreciated.
• Use reusable dishes and napkins
instead of disposable plastic or paper
dishware, utensils and napkins.
Florence Master Recyclers offer
Durable Dishware free for the com-
munity to use; more than 100 full
place settings, including napkins, are
available.
Call 541-590-0506 to reserve.
Visit the Waste Free Holidays link
at www.lanecounty.org/LessIsBest to
learn how to make your holidays
more about family, fun and joy, and
less about things, money and excess
waste.
Q. We recently had our home re-
roofed. The contractor stripped away
four layers of old roofing and indicat-
ed the material would be recycled.
How does that process work and
where does the roofing go?
A. This was a fun question to
research-thanks for asking!
Composition roofing material,
commonly called asphalt shingles, is
most often ground up for reuse in
roads and parking lots. Associated
roof items such as paper and wood
can also be separated from the shin-
gles and then recycled.
Visit
www.asphaltroofing.org/
asphalt-shingle-recycling-faqs for
details.
As far as where the old roofing
goes, construction debris can go to a
construction and demolition Material
Recovery Facility (MRF). Wood,
metal, cardboard and other materials
are sorted out before the non-recycla-
ble items are discarded.
Construction/ Debris MRFs recov-
er 25 percent or more of the material
in their loads for recycling. The cost
to dispose of construction debris at a
MRF can be the same or less than the
cost to dispose of it as trash. Which
recyclable materials can be recovered
depends on which MRF the material
goes to.
At this time, the nearest recycling
options for asphalt shingles are in the
Portland area. These include
Northwest Shingle Recyclers (nwsh-
inglerecyclers.com) and Greenway
Recycling LLC (recyclegreenway.
com), among others.
For information about what can be
recycled where in the Portland area,
visit: www.oregonmetro.gov/tools-
living/garbage-and-recycling/find-a-
recycler.
Q. Is it too late to sign up for the
next Master Recycler class in
Florence?
A. No, there is still time! The next
class will begin Jan. 13 and run
through March 10, at the LCC
Florence campus.
The class will be held every Friday
afternoon, 12:30 to 3:30 p.m., and
includes two Saturday field trips.
The Master Recycler class is free
in exchange for volunteer service.
Pick up applications at the
Florence transfer station or online at
LaneCounty.org/MasterRecyclers.
Florence Master Recyclers (MR)
are part of the Lane County Master
Recycler Program, a service of the
county’s Public Works Waste
Management Division since 2002.
The mission of the MR program is to
bridge the gap between awareness
and action by motivating people to
reduce solid waste at home, work and
play. This monthly column, written
for The Siuslaw News, answers com-
monly asked recycling questions. For
more information, visit www.ci.flo-
rence.or.us/building/recycling.
Us TOO Flor ence
Behind the headlines
B Y B OB H ORNEY
CANCER SURVIVOR
U S TOO CHAPTER LEADER
W
e left Ben Stiller last
month knowing that if
his internist had fol-
lowed the U.S. Preventive Services
Task Force (USPSTF) guidelines,
his prostate cancer wouldn’t have
been diagnosed until it became
symptomatic and most likely too
late for curative treatment.
Since he was very aware of that,
he asked: “But without this PSA
test itself, or any screening proce-
dure at all, how are doctors going
to detect asymptomatic cases like
mine — before the cancer has
spread and metastasized through-
out one’s body rendering it incur-
able? Or what about the men who
are most at risk, those of African
ancestry, and men who have a his-
tory of prostate cancer in their fam-
ily? Should we, as the USPSTF
suggests, not screen them at all?”
Those two questions get right to
the heart of the matter: Being diag-
nosed with curable or incurable
prostate cancer.
Deadly prostate cancer comes in
two forms: Asymptomatic and
symptomatic.
A baseline PSA test like the one
Stiller opted to have is a man’s best
opportunity to diagnose asympto-
matic prostate cancer with a
chance of curative treatment.
Yes, we know there are some
very aggressive prostate cancers
that are not going to be stopped no
matter when they are diagnosed;
however, we also know that wait-
ing until the cancer announces
itself through symptoms is taking a
very dangerous risk with one’s
own life.
I haven’t read anywhere that
Stiller’s two questions were
answered and I’m not holding my
breath that they will be, least of all,
by the USPSTF, AAFP or other
like-minded doctors and organiza-
tions.
Their goal is not to answer
Stiller’s questions, but rather to
discredit his statement that the
PSA test saved his life.
Their vocabulary is pretty much
limited to: over-diagnosis, over-
treatment, harms, incontinence and
impotence. The one word you will
not find in their vocabulary is
“benefit,” as in “lives saved.”
The USPSTF made that quite
clear when it stated, “The possibil-
ity is very small that death from
prostate cancer is less likely in men
whose prostate cancer is detected
by PSA screening rather than wait-
ing for clinical detection.”
As I mentioned last month, I
was amazed at the degrading com-
ments directed at Stiller even
though he prefaced his statement
with, “I am not offering a scientif-
ic point of view here, just a person-
al one, based on my experience.”
Stiller and the rest of us prostate
cancer survivors have a legitimate
right to share our personal experi-
ences, even feeling (and proclaim-
ing) that the baseline PSA test
saved our lives.
What the anti-PSA experts did-
n’t want was any message coming
from a pro-PSA celebrity.
Following Stiller’s announce-
ment that taking the PSA test saved
his life, University of Alberta law
and health policy expert Tim
Caulfield called that announce-
ment, the “Stiller effect.”
He says, “There is a large body
of research showing that, like it or
not, celebrities have an influence
on health behaviours, including
cancer screening.
One way this happens is the
power of a high-profile anecdote.
Ben Stiller told a good story, one
that will resonate with many men,
even if the science doesn’t support
his position.
“And it doesn’t. You want peo-
ple to be making informed choices
based on the best available evi-
dence, not based on powerful anec-
dotes.”
He then added, “But research
tells us that a good narrative will
often overwhelm a mountain of
good data.”
Since he doesn’t have any,
Caulfield can’t explain his “moun-
tain of good data.” Instead, he
reverts to the same over-diagnosis,
over-treatment, harms of inconti-
nence and impotence that those
who don’t believe in PSA testing
use. He doesn’t present anything
new, simply repeats what he has
heard or read from the USPSTF
and others.
Caulfield complains about
celebrities having undue influence
when offering health advice and
has made it his mission to debunk
their advice. Trying to debunk Ben
Stiller’s personal experience didn’t
work very well.
“Celeb
cancer
advice.
Evid(ence) for PSA cancer screen-
ing? Little. Ben Stiller’s anecdote-
confused endorsement,” Caulfield
tweeted after the actor publicized
his diagnosis.
“Sorry you disagree. Cancer
screening should be a patient’s
informed choice,” Stiller tweeted
in response.
And Ben Stiller is right on.
MODEL TRAIN ENTHUSIASTS
BUY - SELL - TRADE
541-255-9822 - Larry
Over
ars
50 Ye ce!
rien
Expe
541-997-2726
landl316@live.com
Flore
n
Locat ce
ion.
We have Holiday
Toys and Gifts
for your Pets!
1751 12th street • Florence
Free native plant giveaway requests being taken
River, creek and lakeside
landowners may be eligible to
receive free native plants.
Trees planted along streams
help reduce erosion, filter
nutrients and keep the water
cool for salmon and trout.
The Siuslaw Watershed
Council (SWC) will once again
provide free native plants for
waterside (riparian) planting in
the Siuslaw Basin and coastal
lakes area.
Call the SWC office to
receive a brochure with more
information on each available
plant or visit www.siuslaw.org
/native-plant-distribution.
Then determine which plants
will work best for your site
conditions and let SWC know
which of these plants are on
your wish list.
Visit us on
the web
SWC staff can also help
advise landowners on plant
selection and placement. Send
requests early because supplies
are limited.
Priority is given to requests
placed prior to Dec. 18,
although the SWC will accept
requests after this date.
The distribution date will be
Saturday, Febr. 11, 2017.
For more information, call
541-268-3044 or email native-
plants@siuslaw.org.
This project is made possible
through a grant from the Coast
Range Stewardship Fund
(USFS) and private individual
donations.
2285 Highway 101 • Florence, OR 97439
(541) 997-8866
Eugene Foot and Ankle
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From routine checkups to treatments for surgery,
Eugene Foot and Ankle Health Center is equipped to handle all your podiatric needs.
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Flat Feet
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Foot and Ankle Fractures.
Hammertoes
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Ingrown Toenails
Injuries
Neuromas
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Sports Medicine
Trauma
Warts
To help you understand your options, we've included
descriptions of some of our leading services on our website.
www.eugenefootandankle.com
Florenoe
4480 Highway 101 Building G
Mon/Tues (541) 997-2319
Eugene
1680 Chambers St.
(541) 683-3351
Siuslaw News
Photo Gallery
NOW SHOWING THESE GALLERIES AND MORE
SOS March Against Domestic Violence
Florence Festival of Books • Oktoberfest • Rods ‘N’ Rhodies
Children’s Repertory of Oregon Workshops • Relay for Life
Let me Showcase your property.
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