One man's trash is another man's treasure

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. John Gordinier
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. (AFPN) --  People tend to take care of things important to them such as their family, friends and personal possessions, but tend to ignore things perceived as not important. People throw anything away that is of no use to them and call it "trash." 

Is it really trash?

Almost everything from the so-called trash can be reused or recycled, said Mark Hall, the 20th Civil Engineer Squadron pollution prevention manager at Shaw Air Force Base.

"We need to try to keep everything out of the ground as much as possible and stretch our resources to the fullest extent possible, and we will do this because we care about the future," Mr. Hall said. "We'll keep it out of the landfills by reducing, reusing and recycling."

Reuse and recycle are not new words, and hurt quite often at Shaw AFB.  Base members receive e-mails from organizations giving resources away such as office furniture, software or technology they no longer need. 

Currently the base diverts 40 percent of its waste, Mr. Hall said. 

The South Carolina base generates about 500 tons of waste every month, said Tech. Sgt. Andrew Teague, a 20th CES installation solid waste manager. "We recycle about 215 tons on average per month. That's not too bad, but of course there is plenty of room for improvement. With what's in place right now, Shaw could be at about 60 percent, and that's a pretty realistic goal."

The reason, the sergeant said, is because one of the perks of his job is he gets to check dumpsters and see what is being thrown away. The environmental enthusiast said he can walk to a dumpster and see about 15 percent of the content is recyclable material.

"That's just a disregard for the recycling program," Sergeant Teague said.

Most are aware they can recycle aluminum cans, plastic bottles, glass, paper and cardboard, but there are other things that can be recycled.

"We now have a bin to collect electronic waste," Mr. Hall said. "It is available for personal use only and not for military units."

E-waste is old computers, telephones and other electronic equipment that is either refurbished and being placed back into circulation, or donated to schools and nonprofit agencies, he said. The e-waste can also be routed to other agencies that can dismantle, separate and recycle the plastics, glass and metals for use in new products.

Printer cartridges and old shoes are also recyclable, Mr. Hall said. In fact, discarded athletic shoes are a resource now. The top and bottom of the shoes are separated during recycling and used to make carpet padding for placing under athletic gym floors, and rubberized running track material.

Reducing, reusing and recycling provides sustainability and saves energy and resources, he said. The recycling process uses about 75 percent less energy than using virgin materials. Not to mention, it is a great motto to live by.

Five plastic soda bottles yield enough fiber for one extra large T-shirt, one square foot of carpet or enough fiber to fill one ski jacket.

Recycled steel and aluminum finds its way into new cars, bikes, appliances, cookware and a whole lot more, Mr. Hall said. Glass beverage containers can be recycled over and over again. Also, they can be used for other things you may not expect like roads, marbles, decorative tiles, surfboards and a host of other products and materials.

One hundred percent of recycled aluminum cans end up as other aluminum cans in as little as 60 days, he said. An aluminum can has no limit to the number of times it can be recycled. In relation to energy, throwing away a single aluminum can is like pouring out six ounces of gasoline.

According to the National Recycling Coalition, last year the amount of energy saved from recycling aluminum and steel cans, plastics and glass containers, newsprint and corrugated packaging was equivalent to the amount of electricity consumed by 17.8 million Americans in one year or the amount of gasoline used in almost 11 million passenger automobiles in one year.

So, why should recycling be important to everyone?

"It's about preserving our way of life for future generations," Mr. Hall said. "As the earth's population skyrockets, resources and ecosystems diminish. The next time you are throwing away an aluminum can or a stack of old papers, think about your child or your relatives' children, or even your friends' kids and their future. Recycling might not be important to some people, but I'm sure children are."

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