Litter season ends with a landfill tour, celebration
It was a productive summer, with
youth crews across the state picking up more than a million pounds of litter on
state roadways. The
crews sort out the recyclables, then send the rest to a landfill.
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| Youth ended their season with a visit to the Terrace Heights Landfill |
"This is the first job for many of these kids,"
said longtime regional EYC supervisor Rod
Hankinson. "These kids are tough - this isn't an easy job.
"I tell them
this is the kind of work that helps them throughout their life, it teaches
them to respect the environment and what they can do about it. It sets them up
to receive recommendations to college from their supervisors, and if they work
for me for two years - they'll get a recommendation from me."
What did they find on the roadways? Alongside
the cigarette butts, fast-food paper waste, cups, cans and bottles you would expect, each year brings
surprises. One girl found a "ninja star," another found baby
clothes. Pocket knives and phones are common finds. In the Seattle area, an EYC crew came across a World War I-era rifle (which was
passed on to police). Larger debris,
like boards, car parts and furniture is also
hauled away.
The central region crews ended their season with a tour of
the Terrace Heights Landfill in Yakima County, where they learned about
recycling and reusing household hazardous wastes like paint,
batteries and household cleaning products. They watched yard waste being chipped
and turned into valuable compost. They tested the temperatures
of various yard waste piles to check on the progress of the composting process. They learned the life of the landfill was coming
to an end -- all the more reason for recyclable products to find a
new life as a new product in new markets.
To end their summer tour, the EYC
crews left the landfill for a picnic of pizza in the park. Needless to say, after
they finished eating, they picked up their trash and left the park spotless. Check
out the crew's Flickr
set
Want to know where you can recycle moderate risk waste in your community?
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/swfa/mrw/mrw_contacts.html#local
Story and photos by Joye Redfield-Wilder, Central Regional Communications Manager
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| Ecology Youth Corp Crews from Ellensburg to Goldendale celebrate the end of the 2016 litter pickup season |
