10A
| JUNE 18, 2020
Recycle
from A1
collecting. And we are allow-
ing all individuals anywhere in
Lane County to drop off with
us — because we don’t want to
see recycling in a landfill.”
As its own entity with lia-
bility insurance, EcoGenera-
tion is able to sidestep county
protocols.
“We did work with Lane
County, though,” Gardiepy
added. “They know what we’re
doing.”
EcoGeneration is building
a grassroots service unlike any
in the region.
Until two years ago, coun-
tries worldwide had relied
heavily on China for their
plastics recycling. A Chinese
ban in January 2018 on the
import of plastics, however,
has forced government enti-
ties and local organizations to
scramble for solutions as do-
mestic plastics have piled up
in landfills or get incinerated.
Gardiepy’s program is
unique in the county in that
it’s the only program that ac-
cepts significantly beyond the
county’s own community col-
lection program.
“We make it convenient
for people to recycle,” said
Gardiepy. “When you make it
convenient to recycle, you get
a bigger buy-in.”
The nonprofit also guar-
antees recycling because it
doesn’t accept any contami-
nation. Curbside pick-ups, on
the other hand, have contam-
ination issues which limit the
efficiency of the endeavor.
“The human element of
what we’re doing is allowing a
pure stream of recycling to go
to a processor,” said Gardiepy.
EcoGeneration
mainly
serves Cottage Grove, Cre-
swell and Oakridge, but is
receiving take-backs from
people as far as Deschutes,
Douglas and Benton counties.
Gardiepy welcomes the addi-
tional traffic.
“Even if an individual has
curbside that takes plastic, we
still advocate that they come
to us because I can guarantee
you there is stuff we will recy-
cle beyond what you can recy-
cle in any curbside in Oregon,”
he said.
The take-back list is exten-
sive and includes #2, #4 and
#5 plastics, various personal
care packaging, several kinds
of health and nutrition pack-
|
COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
aging, disposable razors, cig-
arette filters, block Styrofoam
and HP Inkjet cartridges.
A full list of items and
cleaning instructions can be
found on the EcoGeneration
website.
Coming out of the lock-
down, EcoGeneration has
even updated its list.
The most popular addition-
al service has been the inclu-
sion of #1 plastics for bottles,
jugs and tubs, though this
excludes clamshell containers,
cups or to-go boxes.
“It’s not a perfect stream,
but it did add a lot,” said Gar-
diepy. “It was actually the
number one area we had com-
plaints and so we finally got a
solution for that.”
Gardiepy is also personally
pleased with the addition to
the list of any lid or cap six
inches in diameter or smaller.
“We pay for that. And we
do that because it’s actually
a pet peeve of mine,” he said.
“I don’t like small pieces of
plastic in an open-air landfill
where there’s birds.”
The nonprofit has also add-
ed writing utensils to its list.
“Pens, pencils, mechanical
pencils, markers, highlighters,
Sharpies — pretty much any-
thing you can write with that
you can recycle,” Gardiepy
said.
On top of these new
streams, the nonprofit has
upgraded its website with the
aid of a community member,
helping make the site more
user-friendly and adding an
easy-to-access donation but-
ton. Gardiepy is hopeful this
will generate more traffic and
funding.
“We’re definitely in need of
money,” he said. “That’s some-
thing that hasn’t changed.”
Increased Presence
Gardiepy is looking for
donations as the EcoGenera-
tion name grows in relevance
throughout the area.
While the nonprofit was on
an upward trajectory for its
first six months of operation,
the outbreak of COVID-19
changed the landscape, shut-
ting down services for three
months.
Lane County, too, put on
hold its community collector
program.
“They felt like it wasn’t ap-
propriate to have a bunch of
community collectors collect-
ing plastic during the stay-at-
home period,” Gardiepy said.
However, as the nonprofit
is able to operate somewhat
independently, it is looking to
the horizon and a possible ex-
pansion to other cities.
By weight, the organization
accounts for 10 to 13 percent
of #2, #4 and #5 recyclables in
Lane County, Gardiepy said.
EcoGeneration had collected
4,000 pounds of community
collection recycling in the six
months before the coronavi-
rus outbreak — and in other
streams it exceeded an addi-
tional 5,000 pounds.
Gardiepy’s grassroots mod-
el, too, may serve as a template
for recycling solutions more
broadly.
“Recycling really needs to
be ground-up,” he said. “If you
have people at a state level say-
ing, ‘This is what we’re going
to recycle,’ they’re only going
based on what they’re told.
They’re not going based on
what they see. I have a much
different perspective on waste
and recycling than any legis-
lator, and that’s because I do
this.”
Gardiepy believes this in-
sight is what can give grass-
roots organizations an advan-
tage.
“And so ultimately when
you go ground-up, you iden-
tify solutions to problems in
real-time, not months later
when there’s a legislative ses-
sion,” he said. “The ground-up
approach provides unique op-
portunities to recapture things
that would never be recap-
tured curbside.”
Grassroots efforts can also
address issues particular to lo-
cal ecosystems and land waste
management systems.
“There are other programs
we’re not in because there’s no
need,” said Gardiepy.
Febreze, for example, he
found was not a highly-used
item in the area, so instead fo-
cused his efforts on develop-
ing service for #1 plastics.
“I don’t think a legislative
approach necessarily is able
to do that because they do
the one-size-fits-all box,” said
Gardiepy. “And each commu-
nity is different.”
For these reasons Gardiepy
feels that his model is also
translatable to other commu-
nities where local motivation
to address recycling issues
exist.
“The model I’m using is
not one-size-fits-all, however,
because we’re capturing way
more recycling than other
models, I feel like it’s worth
investing in,” he said. “If the
county’s and the state’s ap-
proach was to invest in local
communities to solve a prob-
lem and give them the re-
sources they need to solve the
problem, I think the problem
would be solved rapidly.”
Without permanent head-
quarters, though, the nonprof-
it is struggling to find ways to
train volunteers. Even so, 16
volunteers have so far joined
the organization.
Volunteer Kai from Eugene
is friends with Gardiepy and
helped transfer plastics at the
take-back on Saturday.
“Even though there’s only a
few of us, we make a huge dif-
ference in keeping plastics out
of the ocean and getting them
recycled and reused,” he said.
“It’s a good way to utilize my
time as well.”
Kai hoped to see an in-
creased interest from commu-
nity members in volunteering.
“There’s a great need for
people to participate,” he said.
Busy eye care practice in search for an
Ophthalmic physician’s assistant
and also a part time optician.
We are willing to train the right person.
The applicant should have at least 1 year of practical
experience in ophthalmic or medical office.
Essential qualities include; good communication
skills and friendly disposition and the ability to learn
quickly. Applicant must have the skills to function
well in a busy multitasking position and be a team
player. The position includes assisting the physician
chair side, ordering supplies, sterilizing equipment,
and other tasks. The compensation package includes
hourly wage, retirement IRA, profit sharing, bonus
system and health and vision insurance benefits.
Please include resume and professional references
when responding to: aeareception@gmail.com
“There’s always a need because
it’s our planet and if we all chip
in we can make a difference
together.”
On volunteerism, Gardiepy
said one of the best ways to
get involved is to capture ma-
terial listed on the nonprofit’s
website and bring it to one the
take-back services.
“Because the more we’re
able to recycle, the more we’re
able to make the case for fed-
eral money or for state mon-
ey,” he said.
He also added gathering re-
cyclables in one’s own neigh-
borhood as a form of volun-
teerism in itself.
Currently, the nonprofit is
driving to raise $7,500 for op-
erating costs and continuing
its rate of service. Local fund-
ing would also give EcoGene-
ration standing in its request
for bigger companies to do
their part, Gardiepy said, add-
ing his appreciation for all the
local support thus far.
“I just want to highlight that
we’re really appreciative of the
support we’ve got from com-
munity members,” he said.
Cottage Grove take-back
services are the second Satur-
day of each month at the Cot-
tage Grove Community Cen-
ter from 1 to 3 p.m., Creswell
take-backs are the third Sun-
day of each month at the Cre-
swell Wellness Center from 1
to 3 p.m. and Oakridge take-
backs are the fourth Sunday of
each month at the Oakridge
Industrial Park from 1 to 3
p.m.
More information about
EcoGeneration can be found
at www.ecogeneration.org or
at the group’s Facebook page
titled “Recycling with Eco-
Generation.”
We know a thing or two
because we’ve seen a thing or two.
#SeenItCoveredIt.
Jim Goodling - Mike Grant
330 OR-99 Suite C • Cottage Grove, OR 97424
541-942-0165
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