Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 30, 1991 TAG: 9103300109
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ROBERTA GREEN/ SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Long
Less than a year later, Schoff and the county's schools have recycled 67,742 pounds of otherwise forgotten trash: 18,580 pounds of cardboard, 29,100 pounds of mixed paper, 4,800 pounds of tin cans and 15,262 pounds of scrap metal.
"It was pretty evident that we'd have to do something. The landfill was filling up, and we had to start recycling," remembered Schoff.
While the figures about how much landfill is saved by recycling vary widely, Schoff continues to research the subject.
"Each equation relies on some assumptions and varies with the type of material recycled. However, I've read some figures that indicate that for every ton recycled, about a cubic yard of landfill is saved."
So armed with the conviction that they could make a difference and that they "had to get with the program," Schoff began meeting last summer with principals and administrators to discuss whether they needed a program, and if so, what form that program would take.
"I knew we could do something with a certain amount of the waste here, as we generate a huge amount of paper, cardboard and tin cans. National figures show that on average, one office worker discards 180 pounds of paper a year, and for our system specifically, food service alone produces 30,000 one-gallon tin cans annually."
The meetings went well.
"We all agreed we needed to do something, but we still needed to figure out what schedule to use, who would pick up what, what vehicles we would use, and so on, so we didn't really get going until September."
Since those first meetings, enthusiasm and participation in the recycling process has continued to grow. The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors contributed $2,000 to the project to pay for the materials to build a loading dock, and, according to Schoff, all the Montgomery County Schools and the School Board office participate in some way.
"All 17 of the schools participate, along with the five administrative facilities, and while not each of them is equally involved, still it's an effort of all of the people.
"For instance, some of the schools have ecology clubs that help collect and sort the paper, and the cafeteria people help us out by washing the cans and placing them back into the boxes, which makes the hauling easier for us.
"Also, organizations at several of the schools have recycling programs for fund raising, so many of us are participating in the larger goal of recycling."
Even though the program is new, some changes have been made in the collection process.
`'We learn as we go, and the cans are an example of that, too. We used to fill a whole truck with cans, and they wouldn't weigh very much at all. Now once we get them back here, we flatten them and can carry many more. Also, we find that we can leave the cardboard in the truck until we have a truck-full, which means less hauling for our `recycling man.' "
The actual "recycling man" is Brian Light, who started working with the program last summer as a high school student and has continued while a student at Virginia Western Community College. Every day Light makes some collections, and in the 20 hours he works each week, he goes to every elementary school once and every high school twice.
While Light, 18, admitted that his job is a bit discouraging at times because of the volume of material, he's quick to add that recycling becomes a habit.
"I'm keeping newspapers now, too," he said with a smile.
Agreed Schoff, "It gets into a habit, which is why the education process is so important. Soon students will be saying to their parents, `Don't throw that away!' "
The habit is spreading throughout Schoff's offices.
"We have an EPA-approved waste oil heater that can take waste oil [such as crank case oils and lubricants that can be burned] and partially heat the garage. It's enough heat to take the chill off the building without using the natural gas heater," Schoff said.
The recycling of waste oils began because Schoff, with 90 regular route buses to maintain, handled 2,000 to 3,000 gallons of oil a year.
"We had to find people and pay people to take it, and that became a burden. We investigated alternatives, so I guess it's fair to say it started as a money thing and ended up as an ecology thing."
Since then, Schoff's division has acquired a machine to recycle antifreeze and is investigating alternatives for recycling freon. Inside the office, he has instituted a policy of photocopying intraoffice memos on discarded paper.
As the program grows, more people become involved. Schoff is working on informing schoolchildren and on getting them more involved in the process. He also helps other county and area councils begin recycling programs.
"The EPA has an information program [Recycle Today] that I'm trying to get for our schools, so eventually the students can be even more involved.
`'And I give briefings on our progress to area groups. County offices are also bringing their paper to us to be recycled. And basically even all of this is just a drop in the bucket of what can be done, but we're learning to walk before we run."
by CNB