The RECYCLE RESORT Program
At Sans Souci Beach Resort
& Estates solid waste will be treated in a conscious manner. It will
implement a Solid Waste Management Program called “Recycle Resort”
as central part of the operation of the project. The Resort & Estates
will compile activities that teach the concepts of "reduce, reuse,
and recycle".
Reduce always comes
first because reducing what we use and what we waste means using fewer
natural resources and energy. Less waste also means less land put aside
for burying waste in landfills. Ways to reduce waste include purchasing
goods that use less packaging, sharing or renting things that aren't needed
regularly instead of buying them, and buying household cleansers that
do not contain hazardous ingredients.
Reuse comes second because
reusing items keeps them from becoming waste. Some ideas for reuse include
using glass or plastic jars after they're empty, or taking a cloth sack
to the store when you shop (you don't need a bag, and you can use the
sack again the next time).
Recycle comes third,
but not last. Recycling conserves our valuable natural resources and reduces
the need to put as much waste into our landfills. The Resort will start
a recycling programs that will help raise money for needed items for livelihood
project. And, many items it will buy, can be made from recycled materials,
such as paper and notebooks. It will set up bins around the resort to
collect glass, paper, and aluminum that could be converted back into raw
materials, then made into new products.
Recycle Resort pays special
attention to hazardous waste and sets up special collection points where
people can drop off used chemicals, paints, and cleansers for safe handling
and proper disposal. Instead of buying environmentally harmful cleaning
products, chemicals, and pesticides, Recycle Resort will switch to natural,
safe substitutes.
The Eco Office
At the Eco Office people plan
public policies about the resort's waste management. It's a place where
Recycle Resort residents and locals can voice their concerns about environmental
problems and organize to make things better. It is also a model business
office for reducing, reusing, and recycling. The Eco Office has an open-door
policy where everyone is welcome. Once a month, the Eco Engineer hosts
a special meeting to honor citizens and businesses that have made a special
effort to reduce, reuse, and recycle. At the meeting, he presents a special
plaque, a cash award, and issues a proclamation that is publicized in
the resort newsletter. Sans Souci Beach Resort & Estates is a model
business for waste reduction. Managers give bonuses to workers who come
up with new ways to reduce, reuse, or recycle. By reducing waste, the
company helps the environment and saves money, too.
The Ecological Engineer studies
model programs in other resorts and introduces successful ideas to the
Recycle Resort Council for local use. He/She also checks resort management
offices to determine the amount and types of waste they produce and makes
sure that reuse and recycling policies are followed in each area of the
resort. The engineer will work closely with national, provincial, city
health departments and environmental agencies, to make sure local policies
work to support other regulations that protect the environment.
Recycle Resort at the office
Recycle Resort's office workers
use computers to reduce the amount of paper they use. We will install
a local area network, called a LAN, so office workers could send mail
to each other electronically (e-mail), which requires no paper at all.
At Recycle Resort, they always
print on both sides of the paper. Then, when paper can't be used
again, workers put it into a recycling bin for collection. When the Recycle
Resort management buys office supplies, it purchases recycled paper and
other products that uses less packaging or have been recycled. When it's
time to buy computers and lighting supplies, the resort purchases energy-saving
models. It will also:
- Use central bulletin boards
to post flyers
- Circulate one document
among several people
- Eliminate fax cover sheets
- Edit and proof on the computer
before printing
- Store files on computer
disks
- Reuse file folders and
envelopes with metal clasps
- Print drafts on paper that's
already been used on one side
- Use smaller paper for short
memos
- Use single spacing in documents
The Convenience Store in Recycle Resort
The Convenience Store will be connected to the food and beverage division
of the resort and will try to stock items and provide services in the
store that reduce the amount of material going into the waste stream and
encourage reuse and recycling. The first and best thing it should do is
to reduce the amount of waste its customers will have to throw away after
they buy products at the market. To reduce the amount of waste and its
impact on the environment, The Store begins to stock items in the store
that contained fewer harmful ingredients and used less packaging. To reduce
packaging and wasted food, it creates a section in the store where shoppers
could buy food in bulk, measuring out the exact amounts they needed.
The store will also set up
a program to reuse those things that could be reused, such as cardboard
boxes that shoppers could use to carry their purchases and bring back
to the store on their next visit. It also gives customers discounts for
returning their plastic bags the next time they shopped and for bringing
their own basket to carry groceries home.
Finally, the store makes sure that many of the items in the store could
be easily recycled. It will set up well-marked collection containers to
make it easy for shoppers to participate in the resort's recycling program.
Paper or plastic? Should you
ask for a paper or plastic bag at the checkout counter? There's no easy
answer. The materials needed to make either bag come from our natural
resources. Paper comes from wood, which comes from trees, which grow in
the earth's soil. Plastic is made from petroleum, also known as fossil
fuel. Petroleum is made by the decomposition (breaking down) of ancient
plants and animals inside the earth. The trees needed to make paper are
considered renewable resources. That means more trees can be planted to
take the place of trees that are cut down to make paper and other products.
But, trees take many years to replace because they grow slowly. Once paper
is made, it can be recycled and used to create more paper goods. Making
it into new paper, however, uses water and energy. Petroleum needed to
make plastic is considered a non-renewable resource. Like aluminum, tin,
and steel, petroleum is not renewable because it is the result of geological
processes that take millions of years to complete. When used up, the earth's
petroleum reserves will be gone for a long, long time. Plastic bags, however,
are easier and less expensive to recycle than paper bags.
The best solution is to use a cloth bag or knapsack for grocery shopping,
or to bring your old plastic or paper bag back to the store when you shop
again. If you only purchase one or two items, you might not need
a bag at all.
Recycling Igloos
In many parts of the resort, recycling containers near traffic areas encourage
the residents and guest to recycle. Recycle Resort uses locally woven
basket igloos because they're fun and support the local handicraft industry.
These igloos are used to collect bottles, cans, and plastic from the resort's
residents. Every day, maintenance from the Materials Recovery Facility
comes by to empty the igloos and take the items for recycling.
Cardboard Boxes
The cardboard boxes used to ship food to the Resort can be put to a variety
of other uses once the food has been unpacked. Resort residents come by
and pick up cartons for storing things or traveling. Any cartons that
aren't claimed by the residents are broken down and put into a pile so
they can be collected, recycled, and made into other things, like new
boxes, paper bags, building insulation, animal bedding, or packaging materials.
Reduced Packaging
When the buyers at the Resort place orders to restock supplies, they try
to order items with very little packaging, or that use ecological packaging
(ones requiring as little energy and as few resources as possible to produce).
The Resort's buyers also try to stock products that come in refillable
containers. Products that don't harm the environment and come in ecologically
friendly packages are called green products.
Packaging that isn't environmentally friendly includes products that are
wrapped in several layers of plastic, use plastic foam, or have individually
wrapped packages inside of a larger wrapped package.
The Resort let the manufacturers who make products for the grocery shelves
know that they and their Recycle Resort customers would rather buy products
wrapped in environmentally friendly package than ones that aren't. Using
this kind of packaging is good for the manufacturer's business.
Bulk and Fresh Foods
Packaging materials make up more than 30 percent of all consumer waste.
The Convenience Store offers shoppers many fresh foods and bulk foods
to help reduce the amount of waste from too much packaging.
Fresh foods, such as bananas, oranges, and nuts come in their own natural
packaging and are excellent sources of nutrition.
Bulk items and food purchased in bulk quantities allow the resort's shoppers
to decide exactly how much they want to keep on hand. For small needs,
folks measure out the exact quantity they want, helping to reduce food
waste. For larger needs, they can buy bulk quantities, which usually use
less packaging material and cost less. When purchasing fresh foods or
buying in bulk, shoppers can put their purchases into refillable containers
they bring to the store or into the recyclable or reusable bags the store
provides.
Paper Towels and Other Paper
Items
When you shop, look for products that can be recycled, or have been recycled
already! Many paper products on the shelves today have already been recycled.
By buying recycled products, you help save valuable natural resources
and help to create a market for those materials. When manufacturers know
that shoppers want recyclable goods, they will make more of them. Paper
towels and toilet paper made from recycled materials ensures that fewer
new trees have to be cut down to produce new products.
Washing
In trying to reduce the amount of toxic chemicals the resort uses, it
found a safer substitute for the harmful cleanser used to clean. The manager
uses cleansers with ingredients like lemon juice and vinegar to do the
same thing (they are naturally acidic). The new cleansers do the job as
well as the old toxic chemicals, but they don't harm the environment.
The Gift Shop
The Gift Shop in the resort will sell local handicrafts made from various
materials including recycled ones and will also accept mail orders. When
the gift store packs products for shipping its products, they use a popcorn-like
packing material made from corn starch.
Fixing Equipment
It is good practice to set up a equipment repair stations for fixing broken
or worn-down equipment. Residents and workers bring in worn equipment
for replacement parts and leave with products that are as good as new.
Equipment fixing not only saves energy and resources by extending the
life of a product, it also keeps owners happy.
Library
The Resort Library is the best place to learn about reuse, because that's
what a library is all about. Because these books can be borrowed, read,
and returned, their reuse saves thousands of trees.
Solar Panels
Many of the resorts structures have solar panels to generate electricity.
The panels help heat water and power the home appliances. Solar energy
is a great source of clean, non-polluting energy. The lighting of pathways
in the resort will be done by solar lighting systems. Individual and inexpensive
solar lights with long life are readily available on the market.
Clothesline
When the weather is clear, the resort's housekeeping will hang clothes
on the line to dry. It saves energy and makes the clothes smell great.
Insulation
Every house in Recycle City is insulated through straw bale construction
techniques to reduce the need for energy and to conserve cooling in the
summer. The Estates gives assistance to home owners for insulating their
houses with this technology.
Bicycles
While they sometimes need to use motorized vehicles, the resort community
tries as much as possible to use bicycles to get from place to place.
Bikes don't pollute or use non-renewable fuel sources, and they're good
exercise. The Resort will rent bikes through its Adventure Shop.
The Materials Recovery Facility
of the Resort.
The Materials Recovery Facility
is really important. It acts as the traffic control center for
all of the waste in the Resort. The resort's garbage and recycling vehicle
bring the waste from all of the houses, cottages, businesses, and resort
building to the facility for sorting.
Sorting
Here, the waste that wasn't sorted at curbside is loaded onto a conveyor
belt and separated into things that are recyclable and things that aren't
(non-hazardous solid waste). Hazardous waste, such as poisons, paints,
or chemicals, that shouldn't have been thrown into the waste stream, is
removed and taken to the Recycle Resort's Hazardous Waste Collection Bin.
Then, anything that isn't hazardous and can't be reused or recycled is
sent to the solid waste landfill or incinerator.
Reusable or recyclable waste
is sorted into separate bins: newspaper, other paper and cardboard, aluminum
cans, tin and steel cans, glass, and plastic. Yard trimmings are separated
out to be made into compost. After everything's sorted, contractors from
different livelihood projects take away the recyclable and make them into
new products.
Paper, Newspaper and Cardboard
Even though paper and paper products can be easily recycled, they still
are the most common items in any trash can. Paper and paperboard makes
up nearly 40 percent of the waste stream. So which kinds of paper are
recyclable? Cardboard, newspaper, and high-quality papers (like paper
for notebooks, copiers, computers, letterheads, and envelopes) can all
be recycled. Different kinds of paper, like newsprint and high-quality
white paper, are sorted into separate piles because they are processed
differently. Recycle Resort collects just about everything made out of
paper that hasn't been coated with plastic, printed with metallic ink,
or soiled by food.
Paper is recycled by shredding it into small pieces and mixing it with
water. The mixture is beaten into mush, called pulp, that flows onto a
moving screen where most of the water is taken out. Wood or paper fibers
remain and the fiber is pressed through rollers that squeeze out more
water. It is then dried in a steam-heated dryer. The result is recycled
paper.
Glass
You can recycle many types of glass. Glass food and beverage containers
can be reused and recycled an infinite number of times. (In fact, only
light bulbs, ceramic glass, dishes, and window glass can't be recycled.
Dishes and ceramic glass can be sold at garage sales, given to someone
else, or donated to charity or a community warehouse.)
Glass is made from soda ash, sand, and lime. If it's thrown away, it stays
there indefinitely because glass never breaks down into its original ingredients.
To be recycled, glass is sorted by color, crushed into small pieces, and
melted down into a liquid. Then, it is molded into new glass containers
or handicrafts. Sometimes recycled glass is used to make insulation and
road-construction materials.
Aluminum
In many parts of the world recycling aluminum cans is a profitable activity.
There is an established market for recycling them, making it easy for
most people to participate. And, because they house some of the country's
most popular beverages, such as colas and other soft drinks, you can find
them almost everywhere.
Aluminum is made from bauxite, an ore that must be mined from the earth.
It doesn't decompose or break down, so an aluminum can will always be
an aluminum can, until someone recycles it! When recycled, aluminum is
melted down and reshaped into new cans and other items. Making new aluminum
cans from old ones requires only five percent as much electricity as it
does to make new cans from bauxite!
Other Metals
It makes good sense to recycle valuable resources such as metals. Why?
Metals are easier for people to recover and reuse than to mine from the
earth.
Tin-coated steel cans, such as soup and fruit cans, are made of iron ore
and tin, which are non- renewable resources. They are the product of geological
processes that take millions of years to complete. Once these metals are
gone, they are gone forever. These types of cans require a different recycling
process than aluminum cans. If they're not recycled, cans made of
these metals eventually rust and break down, but throwing them away is
a waste of valuable resources.
To be recycled, these cans are put into a container with holes in the
bottom and then dunked in a caustic (acid-like) solution to dissolve the
tin from the cans. Then, the steel cans are washed and sold as high-grade
steel. The dissolved tin is made into bricks which will be used for handicrafts
that use tin.
Wood
Almost all wood can be reused in some way. People throw wood away in a
variety of conditions, and it can be reused or recycled differently depending
on its condition. Wood that's in good condition or is especially valuable
can be resold at places like Recycle Resort's Community Warehouse.
About 40 percent of wood recovered from buildings that are torn down can
be reused in the same way new wood is used. Wood that is in pretty bad
shape can be re milled and remanufactured into things like furniture and
flooring. Even wood that's in terrible condition can be recycled by chopping
it into fine pieces and making it into things like particle board.
However, painted wood is hard to recycle because paint often contains
lead, which is a toxic metal. Sometimes painted wood is chopped into a
fine mulch and used as filler in construction. Researchers are looking
for other ways to reuse it, so it doesn't have to go into landfill.
Plastic
Plastic is made of petroleum, a non-renewable resource. It makes up almost
10 percent of waste stream's weight, but takes up almost 20 percent of
its space (or volume). About half of plastic waste comes from packaging.
The rest comes from all kinds of goods, such as computers, radios, disposable
razors, and toys.
A piece of plastic that is thrown away will stay the same for many, many
years. Today, only about five percent of plastic is being recycled, primarily
plastic soft drink bottles and milk jugs.
In your house, you can find two types of easily recyclable plastics.
The plastics from soft drink containers (Plastic #1, known as polyethylene
terephthalate, or PET, for short) are used to make fiber, structural molding,
and more containers.
Milk jug plastics (Plastic #2, called high-density polyethylene, or HDPE)
can make bottles, toys, pipes, crates, and other products.
A mixture of these plastics goes into making garbage cans, park benches,
plastic "lumber," manhole covers, and even railroad ties.
To be recycled, plastics are either shredded or melted down and then used
to make new plastic products. Although #1 and #2 plastics are the easiest
ones to recycle, there are other types of plastics as well that will be
more commonly recycled in the future.
Yard Trimmings
When you cut the lawn or rake up leaves, the yard trimmings may not look
like much, but they weigh a lot. In the Recycle Resort waste stream, yard
trimmings will only make up about 8 percent of the actual size of the
waste stream, but they will represent over 16 percent of its weight.
At the Recycle Resort Materials Recovery Facility, yard trimmings are
separated from the waste stream for large-scale recycling. Some yard trimmings
are made into mulch or wood chips. The rest is turned into a natural soil
additive, called compost, that is eventually used in landscaping, gardening,
or farming.
Yard waste can be collected and composted by the entire resort or by individuals
in their own backyard. When you add compost to your garden at home, you
can improve soil texture, keep weeds from growing, increase soil's ability
to absorb air and water for better plant growth, and decrease erosion.
With compost, you also reduce the need to use chemical additives and pesticides.
Compost Bin
A compost bin returns plant and some food materials to the soil through
decomposition, so it can be used as a natural soil additive, called compost.
Compost improves soil texture, increases the ability of soil to absorb
air and water, suppresses weed growth, and reduces the need to add chemicals
and pesticides to plants.
The Resort will set up a compost
bin to reuse leaves, grass clippings, and even some kinds of food from
the cafeteria. It will be put it on a level area of the resort that doesn't
get a lot of sunlight. The pile will be started with about a four-inch
layer of leaves, loose soil, and grass clippings, egg shells and coffee
grounds.
Maintenance will tend to the
bin. Many kinds of foods can be composted, including vegetable trimmings,
tea bags, apple and potato peels, even old bread (no mayonnaise!). They
will make sure no one throws in meat scraps, dairy foods, or fats and
greases (like mayonnaise), because those things attract pests, like mice
and rats.
In dry weather, they sprinkle
the pile with some water, but not enough to get it too soggy. Then, every
few weeks, they will turn the pile with a pitchfork to let the air circulate
and distribute the moisture. Sometimes the compost pile will heat up,
and you can find worms in the pile, both are part of the decomposition
process.
After about six months, the
compost looks dark and crumbly with an even texture. When it looks like
that, it's ready to be spread in the resort's landscape or potting soil
to grow plants.
Guidelines for Recycle
Resort participants
- To reduce waste, make
less garbage.
- Buy only what you need.
Rent, borrow, or share items that aren't used much.
- Sell or donate goods
instead of throwing them out.
- Buy non-toxic or the
least toxic products available.
- Buy products that use
little or no packaging. Buy individually wrapped packages only when
there is no alternative
- Buy reusable products,
such as re-chargeable batteries that don't have to be recycled after
one use
- Buy products made from
recycled materials.
- Buy one general house
cleaner rather than a variety of products for different purposes.
- Use all of the product
containing toxic ingredients so there is no hazardous waste left.
- When you can't use something,
find someone who can. Give extra paints to theater or civic groups,
and offer extra house cleaning or gardening supplies to neighbors.
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