Making a difference

Thursday was a 13 hour day for me - but worth it! Colleague Scott Flagg and I started at 6 a.m. heading to Davenport for a ribbon cutting at the Waste Commission of Scott County Electronics Demanufacturing facility. It's been open since 2005, the facility is now the only public facility in the world to be certified by EPA as R2 or a Responsible Recycler. It means they ensure all down the line that the vendors handling the material are doing so responsibly. No dumping in 3rd world countries!

Kathy is one of the movers and shakers in the trash world...she can talk a mile a minutes and is really nice

I'm proud to say that Kathy Morris, Director of the Waste Commission credits the program I oversee, the Environmental Management System (EMS) Program with getting them starting down the path toward this certification. The audits that I helped perform on their agency helped prepare them for the rigorous audits EPA performed on the agency.

Did you ever wonder what your LCD TV looked like inside? They take 'em apart here...

There was a good turnout at the event - the Chamber of Commerce, her board, staff and others. It was a well-planned event, and media was there in full force. The photos tell it all.


Presently Scott County doesn't do much reconditioning of products delivered. Mostly because they're all about data integrity. If you recycling a computer with them, they make sure the info is gone! But one of their upcoming EMS goals will be to look into more ways to reuse materials instead of just recycling.


The blonde cutie on the right, Erin is the communications director

While at the event, Scott and I introduced ourselves to a woman with a ReStore shirt on. If you're not familiar with these stores, they take still usable materials from people remodeling their homes or businesses and resell them, a partner with Habitat for Humanity.
ReStore What they do



DNR runs a forgivable loan program that Cindy, the ReStore woman had applied to. They wanted to add a medical equipment/supply room. Scott sits on the grant application review committee and knew about the project. Cindy invited us to stop by. It's stuff like this that inspires me - and makes me love what I do! The pics tell the story. They have lift chairs, adult diapers, wheel chairs - all sorts of stuff. Before - people had to scour all the Salvation Army Stores, Good Will. Because that's where folks dropped off this stuff - sadly they even take it to the landfill when Gran dies, because they don't know what else to do. Now there's an alternative!

People can donate these things to a central place - where others can then purchase at a much reduced price.

Cindy showed us the rest of the store too.
 

Volunteers help get items ready for the "store"

There were many volunteers helping man the place. They have to check all donations to make sure they're up to date, safe and clean. I was amazed how big the building supply store was - cabinets, sinks, lighting fixtures, even furniture. Very cool! I need to stop by the DSM store again soon.

Next we were off to Dubuque for a quick stop at the landfill. It was about 1.5 hours up the road. Manager Doug Hughes showed us the new cell (that's where the trash goes) they're building, and Bev Wagner drove us by their new methane gas flare. Presently they're just burning off collected methane. They will eventually sell for power. It's all better than allowing it to seep into the environment - major cause of global warming.

Doug in the new cell area - off behind is where they'll build their new office and household hazardous materials building

Methane Flare - the collection piping is very expensive so only the larger landfills do it. A turbine to make it into energy runs in the millions.

 A few short miles down Highway 20 from the Dubuque Landfill is Epworth, where we stopped at the site of a former school. Scott Flagg runs the derelict building grant program. Towns of 5,000 people and fewer can apply for cost share to help them remove asbestos from these buildings and then take them down - the city has to own them. Materials must be recycled - the more recycled, the more cost share. Epworth is a success story. This lot is the site of a former decrepit school building.


They even have green grass in Epworth. This site was a crappy building a few months ago...

Last we scooted across Highway 20 some more and then North to Arlington, home of another falling down school building. Someday the site will be a community center.

We met with the City Clerk, Public Works guy and the project director. I took lots of pics there. These buildings are in every town...

Scary looking, huh?

They took us inside, where the guy who most recently owned the property (they got it back on taxes) left tons of unsold 20 year old "energy" drinks in plastic bottles in the basement. They had to get kid's groups to help them empty and recycle them. They still have a few to go...

Something interesting up there...

Good to the last drop - 20 years ago...

Dang - we forgot to sign in!
 

We didn't head out until after 4 p.m. so it was a late night. I got back to Creston about 8:30 p.m. Tired, but pleased by how the day went. What I  and what we do at DNR makes a difference! 

Texting AND Talking whilst driving

Cloth snap together quilted towels found at Scott County Recycling Center - cool!

And this means you daughter and husband 'o mine. I met today with Laura Fiffick of the Campbell Institute and Kathy Morris, Executive Director of the Waste Commission of Scott County. I've known and worked with Kathy for many years, first as peers (kinda - she's got a lot more, shall we say assets than I ever did in Creston) and now in our DNR/stakeholder relationship. She's a go-getter and her organization is a can-do one, and highly respected across the state. Plus she's warm and has an infectious laugh - and that girl can talk, rapid fire!

I got to know Laura in 2009 when she worked for a consulting firm that DNR hired to work on one of my main projects - Environmental Management Systems (EMS). I quickly grew to like and admire her. Laura had experienced setting up an EMS at Dallas and the Port of Houston. So she had real life experience, that quickly won over all of those going through the Pilot year of training in this new and somewhat complex system.

Late in 2011, Laura dropped the bomb on my that she was leaving GS&P, the consulting firm, to take the job of a lifetime - with Campbell Institute - a nonprofit for Environmental Health and Safety. She has to commute from her home in Dallas several weeks a month to Chicago, plus travel sometimes around the world to do this. But it sounds pretty cool. I believe Exxon Mobil is one of the funding companies for this non-profit.
Link to Campbell Institute website

Since safety is one of the top things the organization studies, Laura explained that they have adopted a no texting or even talking on cell phones (distracted driving) - even hands-free while driving policy. She said that is one of their major pushes because studies have shown time and time again how dangerous this activity is - even when your hands aren't engaged because your mind is. Books on CD don't count because they are not two-way conversations. Discussions with others in the car aren't the same because when people are with you they stop talking when road conditions deteriorate, unlike phone companions.

People who worry about getting skin cancer or whether or not they should get Botox should think a lot harder about whether or not they should be talking on the phone as much as they do while driving. And that commercial with the guy who has the head injury from texting should be ample to stop texters...never mind "It Won't Happen To Me." It can! And you're a lot more likely to die from that than other things many of us worry about.

I was listening to a good book on CD (John Sandford - try him) on the way to Davenport. Even though that activity is not dangerous according to Laura, I took the wrong turn in Davenport. But I've now been here enough I found my way to the recycling facility - a few minutes late but hey, I got to listen to the book a little longer! The Butler did it...haha

I enjoyed a nice lunch catching up with those two ladies, and then a working afternoon talking about environmental health and safety. I'm proud to be in a job that takes care of people and the environment! And I'm lucky to know two great women like Laura and Kathy.