October 11, 2008, Marked the Second Recycling Drive Hosted by Recycle Eureka!

Another great success! Thanks Tobacco Valley for all who participated to make our recycling initiatives fruitful. A total of 3,936 pounds of typical household waste was diverted from the Libby Landfill on Saturday. Following is the breakdown of volumes of each material recycled:

Total Pounds Recycled: 3,930

Cardboard: 780 lbs

Paper: 2,351 lbs

Aluminum Cans: 190 lbs

#1 Plastic: 140 lbs

#2 Plastic: 225 lbs

Tin Cans: 250 lbs

Total Value of Recyclables: TBA

We would like to extend a special thanks to the teachers at Lincoln County Public High School and the participating student body for their initiative taken in piloting a paper recycling program in the high school. In just 3 weeks, 4 teachers generated approximately 500-700# of paper and donated to the recycling drive on Saturday. What a great start!  Also thanks to Sandi Hall of Cafe Jax & June Osler for the yummy treats provided to the volunteers and to Neil Temple, Napa Auto Parts for the use of his forklift, and to Budget Truck Rental in Kalispell for the discounted truck rental.

And Recycle Eureka recognizes the local cub scouts, parents and other volunteers who help to make recycling possible in the Tobacco Valley. A very heartfelt and sincere thank you from all of us at Recycle Eureka to Dave & Tyler Purdy, Ed & John Suchy, James Dunn, Cynthia & Cordell Stramer, Tia & Colby Hammack, Brandon Griffiths, Chris Moen, Pat & Toni & Sean & Alice & Adam McCurry. Volunteers make it possible!

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Dusti Johnson, Montana Department of Environmental Quality, appears in the Tobacco Valley News helping with first Recycle Eureka household waste recycling drive. Recyclables were accepted for two days and following is a breakdown on items diverted from the Libby landfill. Thank you to Dusti Johnson, to Bob Morrow of Valley Recycling in Kalispell and to all the local volunteers who helped to make this recycling drive a huge success!

Total Pounds Recycled: 4,260

Mixed Paper: 2,230

Cardboard: 1,185

Plastic #1: 121

Plastic #2: 147

Tin: 128

Aluminum: 129

Total Dollars: $213.25

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The Recycle Eureka Board would like to thank Dusti Johnson for giving of her time and expertise to help establish a viable recycling program for household waste in the Tobacco Valley. In addition, special thanks to Krista Tincher for her ongoing and outstanding coverage of our efforts. Ms. Tincher’s recent article from the Tobacco Valley News is quoted in italics below:

Say you are trying to make a business out of firewood cutting. But you only have an axe. You manage to chop up a few pieces of wood, and try to sell them. Are you going to make it as a firewood cutter?

The answer to that question applies to any business - including recycling, explained Dusti Johnson, recycling and market development specialist for the Montana Department of Environmental Quality.

You need proper equipment to start a business, and the volume to make it profitable to sell your resource. Buy a chain saw and a truck and cut a few cords at a time to sell, and you’re in business.

The same goes for recycling. (more…)

Per Ms. Tincher, “The Tobacco Valley ships 72,000 pounds of trash per day, three to four times a week to the Lincoln County Landfill near Libby.” Tincher goes on to identify existing recycling efforts in the Tobacco Valley being carried out by Recycle Eureka as well as the Lincoln County Public Schools & the Eureka Landfill.

Alice B. Elrod, co-founder of Recycle Eureka, highlights the necessity for the public to realize that initially, recycling costs money until volumes increase. In addition, other sources echo Recycle Eureka’s findings that programs in other cities are subsidized by tax dollars or collection fees.

Special thanks to Krista Tincher and the Tobacco Valley News for their ongoing efforts and coverage of all recycling efforts in the Tobacco Valley.

The plastic bag recycling program initiated by Heather Dunn has now taken 2nd place in the state, 2nd only to Helena, and has earned a $2000 grant for its efforts. This is proof positive that with ongoing community support and unwavering volunteers, recycling can be a profitable enterprise. Economics notwithstanding, recycling 167 60-gallon bags full of shopping bags has had a huge environmental impact saving thousands of bags from blowing around the Libby landfill .

Congratulations to Ms. Dunn, to all the students and to the concerned patrons who made this possible!

In the April 30, 2008, issue of the Flathead Beacon, Valley Recycling revealed some surprising statistics addressing an urgent need for recycling more to extend landfill life. Montana as a state is recycling approximately 18% of its solid waste generated annually as compared with the national average of approximately 32%. Flathead County is only recycling (or diverting from the landfill) 5% of its solid waste. Valley Recycling, Pacific Steel & North Valley Recycling make recycling in the Flathead quite convenient as compared to more remote locations around Montana.

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Alice B. Elrod, Co-founder of Recycle Eureka, echoes the sentiments of other area recyclers in discussing the financial challenges of establishing a long-term recycling program in a small community. Quoted in the TVN, Elrod explains, “The big challenge is mainly the cost. People oftentimes don’t realize how expensive it is to recycle.” Jerry Snell of Kootenai Disposal in Libby and Mike Smith of Valley Recycling in Kalispell were also quoted in the article pointing out the challenges to operating a successful recycling program.

Recycle Eureka makes it’s debut at this year’s Rendezvous festivities in the Historical Village on 4/26/08. While establishing a community-wide presence was our primary objective this year, we are equally excited about the response gained from the portable E-waste drive and have decided to make this initiative a permanent part of our program. There will be a separate blog entry announcing the specifics of this ongoing initiative.

Thank you to all who attended our booth whether you were there to donate aluminum cans, plastic bottles, glass bottles, e-waste or just to say hi, your involvement at every level matters and is greatly appreciated! Thanks for the support Tobacco Valley!

Having recently launched it’s initial phase to recycle portable electronics, Recycle Eureka will speak to classes at the Eureka schools to help educate children on the importance of recycling electronic waste. With cell phones being replaced on average once every 18 months, there is increasing need for keeping dangerous materials out of landfills which eventually work their way into ground water, contaminating thousands of gallons of drinking water with chemicals such as Arsenic. Concerned persons may donate their portable electronics (please see Resources section of the web site for more detail) to Recycle Eureka where they will be reused or recycled properly. Proceeds from donated items will help support Recycle Eureka in its ongoing efforts to bring additional recycling opportunities to the Tobacco Valley.

Click on www.informinc.org, click either “Yes or No” to get to the home page, then click on the play button on the right side of your screen where it says “The Secret Life of Cell Phones.”

You may recycle your old cell phones and other portable electronic devices (see Electronics under the Resources section) now in Eureka & Trego, Montana, thanks to Recycle Eureka.