6A | SATURDAY, MAY 22, 2021 | SIUSLAW NEWS
Master Recycler — A conversation with EcoGeneration founder David Gardiepy (Pt. 2)
carpets and clothes. Den-
ton Plastics in Portland
takes our number 2, 4 and
5 plastics and they make
a high quality feedstock
plastic used for agricultur-
al and construction mate-
rials.
Terracycle is out of New
Jersey so we have to ship
our nutritional and health
and beauty packaging to
them for a cost. They cre-
ate a 100 percent recycled
plastic feedstock to be
used for packaging mate-
rials and use a special heat
process so they can extract
all of the plastic for reuse.
The plastic film is baled
and shipped to Trex for
lumber and decking. The
plastic caps cost us mon-
ey to recycle and are made
into lumber or a low grade
number 7 resin so at least
it gets one more use.
PakTech is a Cottage
Grove based manufactur-
er that makes handles and
drink rings out of 98%
recycled plastic. They are
extremely innovative with
respect to taking respon-
sibility for recycling their
products by provided
transportation and paying
for the recycling process-
es.
Last month, we spoke
with
EcoGeneration
Founder and Executive
Director David Gardiepy
about his passion to pro-
tect our environment and
the importance of estab-
lishing frequent Recycling
Take Back community
events throughout Lane
County.
This is part two of the
Two-Part Interview Series
with Gardiepy where he
explains what happens to
all of the different collect-
ed plastics and educates us
on ways we not only can
recycle better but more
importantly, ways to re-
duce our dependence on
plastic altogether.
You collect over 6 differ-
ent types of plastic waste
streams, where do they go
and what happens to the
different clean, dry sorted
plastic?
DG: We have a network
of local and national part-
ners that remanufacture
our plastics into other
products. Garten is based
out of Salem, Oregon and
takes number 1 bottles
and jugs. They manufac-
Why do you go through
ture feedstock for recy-
cled PETE containers like all the trouble to cre-
clamshells and food trays, ate these different waste
streams? Why can't we just
throw everything into the
bin?
DG: EcoGeneration was
created because the US re-
Shoppe
LOCAL
#MyFlorence
Shop. Eat. Support.
SAVE. SHOP
SUPPORT
ally wasn't recycling plas-
tics when China stopped
taking our plastics.
As a country, we only
recycle about 9 percent of
our plastics properly. We
were sending dirty com-
ingled plastics somewhere
else to be processed.
By the way, the US is
still shipping contaminat-
ed unsorted plastic over-
seas to other countries.
So in order to make sure
Lane County does the
right thing, we have to go
back to a single stream re-
cycling process, where we
have clean, number specif-
ic waste streams that can
get effectively reused.
Taking the time to sort
and clean the different
plastics into specific waste
streams equates to better
sustainable reusable feed-
stock plastics for future
use.
A lot of our recycling
partners do not have
washlines to process the
materials, so cleaning and
drying your items is cru-
cial not only for the safely
of our volunteers but for
the ability to remanufac-
ture the plastics.
Recycling is not the
answer to ending our de-
pendancy of plastics, but
it is something we should
do right if we are going to
do it at all. Our website
—
www.ecogeneration.
org has more information
on all the different plastic
packaging we accept and
how to sort them.
What can we do to be
better recyclers?
DG:
Don't buy single use
plastics period. Avoid
certain products whose
packaging is hard to recy-
cle or not easy to clean or
remove labels.
Know what your gar-
bage hauler takes in their
comingle recycle bin and
pay attention to what you
put in it to make sure it
truly can be recycled, not
wishful recycling.
Stay away from unla-
beled plastics or low value
plastic like numbers 3 – 7.
Number 2 plastics get the
most bang for the buck
and are the easiest to reuse
multiple times, so if you
have to buy plastic, make
it a number 2!
The number 2 transpar-
ent plastic is the most ver-
satile and gets reused into
number 2 plastics more
than any other plastic.
Be an educated con-
sumer when it comes to
purchasing certain prod-
ucts, make choices that are
good for the environment.
Going the extra mile to
protect our planet from
plastic pollution is worth
the effort.
2022. We are hoping to
increase it to six times per
year, based on sponsor-
ships and funding. We ap-
preciate the overwhelming
support from the commu-
nity of Florence for these
quarterly Recycling Take
Back Events this year and
hope to continue them in
the future.
We are also in need of a
cargo van for transporting
materials and looking to
rent an industrial ware-
house facility to process
the increased recycled ma-
terials.
So, sponsorships and
donations are always wel-
come.
Please visit the website
for more details at www.
ecogeneration.org.
There will be two more
Recycling Take Back
Events in Florence in 2021
on Sundays — Aug. 1 and
Oct. 3.
Volunteers are an im-
portant part of these
events, so visit the website
for more information on
how you can help.
Got ideas for future
articles? Need more in-
formation about closing
the loop? Have questions
about your recycling ef-
forts? Please contact me at
britte.kirsch@gmail.com
or visit Waste Wise Lane
County.
Surfside Restaurant
at Drift wood Shores Resort
Is Open for Dine-in & take out
from 4pm - 8:30 pm
Tuesday - Saturday
Call
541-902-6447
Drift wood Shores Resort
88416 1st Avenue, Florence
What other programs
and opportunities do you
have planned for the fu-
ture?
DG: We are working on
setting up more collec-
tion events in Florence for
9
201
VOTED
F
BEST O
E
By Britte Kirsch
Lane County Master
Recycler
F LO E N C
R
Register now 'Fore Kids Golf Classic'
The Boys and Girls Club
of Western Lane County’s
24th annual “Fore! Kids”
Golf Classic sponsored by
Banner Bank is scheduled
for Saturday, June 5, at Flor-
ence Golf Links.
Entry into the 4-person
scramble is $90 per play-
er, including opportunities
to participate in the Hole-
In-One Challenges and
Million Dollar Shoot Out,
awards luncheon and more.
All proceeds help fund
the Boys and Girls Summer
Program for the kids in
Florence and the surround-
ing area.
On the day of the class,
team check-in starts at 8
a.m. with a 10 a.m. shot-
gun start, depending on
COVID restrictions.
Register by calling or
emailing Pat Bennett at
209-986-4793 or pat@pe-
bennettco.com.
Entry forms are also
available at Florence Golf
Links, 1201 35th St., or the
Boys and Girls Club, 1501
Airport Rd.
Ending the day on a
high note is the 10th an-
nual Helicopter Golf Ball
Drop, sponsored by Fair-
way Estates, Chad Clem-
ent, D.D.S., and R & R
King Logging. The Golf
Ball Drop is scheduled for
3 to 3:30 p.m. on tourna-
ment day at Florence Golf
Links on the 18th fairway.
Winners do not need to be
present.
The ball closest to the
pin will receive $1,000 cash.
The ball furthest from the
pin will receive $500 cash.
Tickets are $5 and can
be purchased when you re-
serve your team or by con-
tacting the Boys and Girls
Club at 541-902-0304.
The Boys and Girls Club
Summer Programs include
Summer Brain Gain, Flor-
ence Air Academy and
STEM (Science, Technolo-
gy, Engineering, & Math)
Programs. These are all
fun and innova-tive ways
for kids to maintain the
knowledge acquired during
the prior school year.
Want to help but don’t
swing a club? Sponsor a
Club Kid. A $300 invest-
ment will support this
year’s summer program for
21 days — two hot meals
and snacks every day, fun-
filled activities with oth-
er kids and field trips, all
while emphasizing the im-
portance of math, literacy
and great citizenship.
Serving over 450 com-
munity youth, the Boys and
Girls Club of Western Lane
County is a 501(c)(3) char-
itable organization.
Jim & Jerry
Neil’s Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning
541-997-3825
Certifi ed – Bonded – Insured
Property Services Contractor #39458 • SAM: #831298500/7E6J9
City License #2578
“Our commitment is to our customers
cleaning needs with honesty and integrity”
We are open and
ready to assist you!
SWANSON’S PEST MANAGEMENT
INSPECT – CORRECT – PROTECT
Johnston Motor Company
SUSTAINED PEST MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS
FOR YOUR HOME AND BUSINESS
Since 1939
SOME OF THE PESTS THAT WE TREAT:
2150 Hwy. 101 • Florence
(541) 997-3475 • 1-800-348-3475
ANTS • COCKROACHES • FLEAS • RODENTS
BIRDS • BEDBUGS • STORED PRODUCTS PESTS
BEES/WASPS • GOPHERS
541-997-4027
1-800-622-8993
HIT THAT
Visit our Website:
www.swansonspm.com
BUTTON!
“Since 1983”
LIKE
F ACEBOOK . COM /S IUSLAW N EWS
Since 1983
Alva Bracey
Broker
Your goals are my
top priority.
Let’s get together!
LES SCHWAB TIRE CENTERS
Tires • Brakes • Shocks
Alignments
4325 Highway 101
Florence, OR 97439
541-997-7178
Call, Text or Email
Cell: 541-505-1180
Alva@CBCoast.com
541-997-7777
100 Hwy. 101,
Florence, OR
COAST REAL ESTATE
ESTATE JEWELRY AND
ANTIQUE FURNITURE!!!
We buy, sell and consign quality
estate/heirloom jewelry & furniture.
Gold, silver, platinum jewelry with
precious & semi precious stones.
Call 541-997-8104,
Florence Antiques
&
Coast Jewelers
Insect & Pest Removal
Trapping • Mole/Gopher
Dead Animal Removal • Honey Bee Removal
Crawl Space Cleaning • Exclusion Work
Fumigation of Antiques and Commodities.
(541) 997-4027
MODEL TRAIN
ENTHUSIASTS
Auto, Home, Life, Business
Flood, Antique Auto, RV’s
Medicare Advantage Plans
Medicare Supplements
Health Insurance
Phone (541) 997-9497
1234 Rhododendron Dr / Florence
Over
ars
50 Ye ce!
rien
x
E pe
CALL ME TO BUY, SELL OR TRADE!
I’M LOCATED HERE IN FLORENCE.
541-255-9822 - Larry
landl316@live.com
Us TOO Florence
Prostate Cancer Education
Support on the Oregon Coast
www.ustooflorence.org
BOTH MEETINGS ARE CURRENTLY ON HOLD.
WATCH SIUSLAW NEWS FOR RESUMPTION
• Tuesday Evening Group (2nd Tuesday)
5-7 p.m. - Ichiban Chinese/Japanese Restaurant
• Urologist Dr. Bryan Mehlhaff attends.
• Tuesday Lunch Group (3rd Tuesday)
12 noon – 1:00 p.m. – Ichiban Chinese/Japanese
Restaurant
• Urologist Dr. Roger McKimmy attends.
Contact Bob for more information:
(H) 541-997-6626 • (C) 541-999-4239
maribob@oregonfast.net