Master Recycler
Program Information
by Chris Halaska

Register-Guard Home & Garden section
September 2001

In these pages, Master Gardeners regularly give advice about improving your garden. For a little over a year, another group of Masters -- Master Recyclers -- have been wandering the county, giving advice about waste. Specifically, how to generate less of it.

Lane County and the City of Eugene have been cooperating on a program to educate citizens about waste reduction. So far, two classes of about 25 students each have passed through the Master Recycler program. In exchange for learning the ins and outs of waste handling, recycling, and composting, we volunteer -- just like the Master Gardeners -- to educate the community about these issues.

You'll find us at the Eugene Celebration and County Fair, in school classrooms and community gardens, or anywhere people gather. Some of the activities I've volunteered for since I've been a Master Recycler are:
- showing children how to make musical instruments out of reused keys,
bottle caps, sticks, and paper towel tubes at Art & the Vineyard;
- sorting computer equipment at BRING Recycling's Electronics Roundups;
- answering questions and collecting recyclables at the Lane County
Fair;
- setting up recycling and composting for the Zimbabwean Music Festival;
- making compost with the gardeners at the Matthews Community Garden;
and
- educating people at the Willamette Valley Folk Festival about
composting their food scraps, plates, cups, and napkins.

Other Master Recyclers collect difficult-to-recycle materials such as styrofoam and shrink wrap, educate kids about the importance of reuse through creative art projects, and speak to businesses.

We work closely with BRING Recycling, helping to staff their booths at festivals and providing volunteer labor for special events. Staff from the City of Eugene and Lane County regularly request our help at fairs and conferences.

Pete Chism, Waste Reduction Specialist for Lane County, is currently responsible for overseeing the Master Recycler program and says: "The representatives of this community who accept the challenge of learning Lane County's recycling system will be the backbone of education through word of mouth. I believe face to face interaction is the most positive and effective tool for recycling education, whether it be in a home, at
work or at the Lane County Fair."

The next Master Recycler class will be held this fall. The class includes an overview of Lane County's waste management system, including all the private waste haulers and recyclers, nonprofits such as BRING, and the public sector. You'll learn about reducing, reusing, recycling (including composting), and what to do with hazardous waste. You'll also tour various recycling facilities and get a sobering view of the Short
Mountain Landfill.

If you're interested in becoming a Master Recycler or if you have a waste reduction idea you'd like help with, give us a call. We don't have a hotline like the Master Gardeners, but you can reach us through Pete Chism at Lane County (541-682-4339). We can also help with recycling education through Sarah Grimm at
BRING Recycling (541-746-3023).

We look forward to working with you!

Chris Halaska,

x2fer@socialdesign.org  is a board member of BRING Recycling, and co-founder of social design, an organization focused on community use and control of technology.