Clean up day reportThe City of Otsego Clean Up Day
By Matthew Blesi
Biology 120: Current Environmental Issues
Prof. Robert Swanson
Although many environmental issues face the planet today, some
seem distant and vague or just "someone else's problem." Others
seem complex and too serious or out of an for an individual
effort's to make a difference. Looking at a local environmental
issue reveals the fact that a real issue exists close to home, is
in fact "our problem", and an individual can make a difference.
I focussed my research on one of these local environmental
issues by analyzing many aspects of "The City of Otsego Clean Up
Day." The purpose of my research was to attempt to find out
several things. First, I wanted to know how and why the clean up
day started. Second, I wanted to see what direction participation
was moving. Third, I wanted to take the trash and it's
destination a step further by finding out what exactly happens to
the trash after the recycler receives it. Finally, and most
importantly, I wanted to discover people's attitudes about the
clean up day because the ultimate fate of the clean up day,
recycling in general, and the environment rests in the hands of the
people.
Three methods were used for information gathering. Judy
Hudson, city secretary, was a vital source for information. She
provided me with statistics, prices, and names of recyclers. I
telephoned each recycler to obtain information on their respective
recycling process. I also conducted a survey of residents as they
brought their items to the clean up day. Finally, as a good
citizen of the city of Otsego, I volunteered my labor for the clean
up day to repay the city for what they provided me with and to gain
first hand knowledge about the whole operation.
The Otsego clean up day is a day set aside once per in the
Spring by the city for residents to bring unwanted items such as
tires, appliances, mattresses, furniture, used oil, batteries,
scrap metal, and landfill material to a central location (city hall
parking lot) where the items are unloaded, separated, and hauled to
recycling companies and landfills. One pick -up -sized load of
materials per household are accepted by the city for no charge .
However, if the load is larger than pick -up -size or if the load
contains certain items, the city charges a small fee. Tax dollars
are used to make up the difference between what the city charges
residents and what the various recycling/landfill companies charge
the city. City employees run the operation with a lot of help
coming from volunteers.
The clean up day was conceived primarily for the purpose of
maintaining a clean and neat looking city. The goal of the clean
up day was not only to help residents maintain cleaner, junk -free
yards, but also to provide residents with an alternative to
disposing of their junk in less acceptable ways such as burning,
dumping, and throwing in ditches. The city felt tax dollars would
be wisely offset by sponsoring a clean up day rather than hiring
road clean up crews to clean city ditches where some of the junk
would have ended up. The clean up day also provides residents with
a chance to dispose of waste that the regular garbage hauler does
not normally take. Needless to say, our natural environment has
benefitted from the clean up day. Many new natural resources have
not needed to be tapped due to the recycling of materials while
toxic substances such as used oil and lead from batteries has been
recycled and not released into the environment. The clean up day
is only one small community program yet it seems to be a
cosmetically, financially, and environmentally beneficial and
successful program.
The clean up day usually runs for a period of 5 to 6 hours for
collection. Stragglers are not turned away if they do not arrive
too late after the cutoff time. Before residents enter the
unloading area, they are checked for proof of residency in Otsego.
It is rare for a non-resident of Otsego to show up with junk
because Otsego coordinates it's clean up day with the clean up day
of the neighboring communities of Monticello and Buffalo. This
year 6 phone calls were received from non-residents of Otsego
askI
ng if their junk would be taken in. One non-resident showed up
and was turned away., After residents are identified they are
charged based on the types of items they brought to the clean up
Costs are as follows:
Residents are allowed one pick -up -sized load of trash free of
charge. Larger trucks or trailers were charged extra based on
volume. If the resident's load of trash contained items such as
appliances or tires then a fee was charged. The first appliance
had an $8.00 fee while additional appliances were accepted free of
charge. Tire fees varied depending on the size of the tire. Small
car tires were $1.00 while fees varied from $2 to $5 for truck and
tractor tires.
The remaining items are taken in at the clean up day for no
charge. Free items include used oil, batteries, scrap metal, and
landfill materials. Used oil is taken by the recycler for no
charge while batteries and scrap metal are paid for by the
recycle.. The scrap metal and the batteries are hauled to a metal
dealer/recycle. by a private party. The dealer pays $25 per ton
for the tin and $.02 per pound for batteries. The biggest expense
for the city is getting rid of the landfill material. Landfill
material is taken in by the city for no charge, therefore, the
entire cost of getting rid of landfill material is absorbed by the
city. Landfill material is usually hauled to the landfill in 40
cubic yard containers called rolloffs. $300 is charged by the
landfiller for a 40 yd. rolloff . In addition, the landfill charges
$10 to $15 dollars for mattresses which the city also absorbs.
Once the items are collected and separated, they go to various
destinatI
ons to be recycled or landfilled.
Appliances are taken by Appliance Recycling Centers of America
(ARCA) 2601 Ne Broadway Rd. Mpls. Mn. There the appliances are
disassembled and each part is processed and recycled. The
appliance's metal frame is shredded and some is shipped to a metal
recycler and the rest is used by various other companies for cement
and road construction material. Fiberglass is also removed,
shredded, and used for the same purpose. Toxic and environmentally
hazardous materials present in appliances include refrigerants or
CFC's which are evacuated, distilled, and resold as refrigerants by
ARCA. Other toxic materials found in appliances include capacitors
which contain PCB's and switches which contain mercury. All three
materials are handled by ARCA in an environmentally safe way. ARCA
is a full scale appliance recycler which means they deal with and
try to recycle every part of the appliance.
Rolloff (landfill) materials are taken by Demcon Disposal Inc.
648 Cty. Rd. 12, Buffalo, Mn. Landfill materials include wood,
furnitureI mattresses, and just about anything imaginable which is
not normally recycled. Demcon practices standard landfill
procedures which include covering each days trash with a layer of
soil.
Tires are taken by National Tire located in Mpls. Mn.
National Tire charges anywhere from $1 to $5 per fire depending on
the size of the tire. Tires are unloaded onto a conveyor belt and
transported to a shredder where they are shredded into 1 to 2 inch
pIeces. The rubber pieces are shipped to coal burning power plants
where they are mixed with coal to produce a higher BTU output of
energy per volume of fuel. The coal -rubber mixture is also
belI
eved to produce less pollution. The wires present in the tires
are pulled out, baled up, and sent to local metal recyclers.
Batteries are hauled to Max Schwartzman and Sons Inc . in Anoka
Mn. by a private party. Max Schwartzman Inc. is a scrap metal
dealer who pays around $.02 per pound for car batteries. Price
varies depending on amount brought in. From Max Schwartzman Inc.
I
n Anoka, the batteries are brought by the semi load to Gopher
Smelting and Refining Co. in Eagan Mn. Gopher Smelting crushes the
batteries and breaks them into pieces. The acid is removed and
neutralized and the plastic is recycled. The lead from the
batteries is smelted down, refined, and sold to various companies
as lead for new batteries or items such as fishing sinkers.
Scrap metal is also taken by Max Schwartzman and Sons Inc, in
Anoka Mn. Scrap metals are processed into somewhat uniform sizes
and usually shipped by rail to various smelting operations where
the metals are refined into purer and more useable forms.
Used oil is taken free of charge by any number of oil
recyclers where the oil is pured and resold as fresh useable
oil.
Now that prices and destinations are known of the various
clean up day materials, here is a graph of the amounts of items
taken in per year since the clean up day began in 1990:
Graph A: Amounts of items taken in per year.
1990 1991 1992 1993
Participants 398 82 400+ 400+
Appliances 277 70 293 309
Rolloffs 140yd. 40yd. 400yd. 400yd.+*
Tires 1,309 - 2,033 2,000
Mattresses 92 2 45 78
Used oil - - 530ga1. 700ga1.
Batteries - - - not available
* estimate
Since the program is only four years old, it is hard to make
any concrete generalizations or notice any trends. 1991 had a low
turn out because of nasty weather. Participation and appliance
volumes seem to be steady while tire, oil, and rolloff amounts have
increased. Overall, the first year (1990) had moderate volumes
while 1991 dropped of considerably due to bad weather. 1992
rebounded significantly and 1993 slightly exceeded 1992's numbers.
The following letter explains my survey intentions:
Dear City Council,
I am a student at North Hennepin Community College and
enrolled in a biology course which concentrates on the study of
current environmental issues. The course requires me to do an
outside research project on a topic of my choice. The Otsego clean
up day on May 1 would provide me with a local, current, and
convenient topic to analyze. I am working with Judy Hudson on
gathering statistics from previous years as well as other general
information. Also, with the city council's permission, I would
like to conduct a survey of citizens participating in the clean up
day. My procedure would consist of forming five simple and easy to
answer questions on paper, distributing the survey to citizens who
are waiting in line to unload while making damn sure I do not
disrupt or slow progress, compiling the data, and making the data
available to the city and the general public, (via the city
newsletter). I formed three questions and will use two questions
Judy came up with. These five questions are not carved in stone
and I am very willing to alter or change some or all of them based
on specific information the city would like to know.
Here are the questions:
1. Is the clean up day valuable and should it continue?
2. Does the clean up day inspire other clean up projects around
your home or yard?
3. Should city tax dollars be spent to sponsor a clean up day?
4. Are your items coming from inside, (house, garage, shed), or
from outside, (yard, pasture, ditch, field), or both?
5. Where would your items go or what would you do with them if
the city did not have the clean up day?
If there are any objections, questions, or comments please let
me know. I am open for suggestions and other ideas in regard to my
whole procedure. If I do not hear from anyone I will assume I have
the O.K. Needless to say, I volunteered my body for the May 1
clean up day. Thank you for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
Matthew Blesi
I sought general public attitudes and information about the
clean up day with my survey. But, before I conducted the survey I
wanted to make the city council and employees aware of my
intentions to get permission to carry it out and to eliminate any
possible surprises.
I carried out my plans as described in the letter. Everyone
I asked to fill out a survey obliged. Analysis of the survey is as
follows: (Refer to survey chart A)
The overwhelming majority said yes to questions 1 through 3.
Not only do the people surveyed feel the clean up day should
continue, they also approve of using city tax dollars to sponsor
it. The survey also says the clean up day gets people in the
cleaning mode and spinoff clean up projects result. Additional
comments from question 1 include "I wish our neighbors would use
this opportunity" and "Should have it twice a year then more
people would take advantage of it." Many comments expressed
people's desire for clean yards in their neighborhood. One
resident even went so far as to suggest, "have a penalty for
unclean yards." 54 out of 55 people answered yes to question 1.
However, the response to question 1 may be deceiving because the 54
people who said yes, they think the clean up day is valuable and
should continue, were in fact waiting in line with their junk and
ready to benefit from the clean up day.
Question 3 had several of these type of comments pertaining to
taxes: "If that's what it takes [taxes] to make the neighborhoods
look better", "If it keeps houses around mine clean !" One
resident simply commented, "Pay as you go." Another resident
realized if we're not taxed now we eventually pay later when they
said, "If necessary, yes, otherwise people dump it and the city and
we pay for it anyway." Another resident did not object to using
taxes for the clean up day simply because it is "Good for the
environment."
(Refer to survey chart B)
The city may be somewhat disappointed with the results of
question 4. More junk seems to be coming inside rather than
outside. One of the clean up day objectives is to make the city
look more attractive by cleaning up junk laying outside in yards.
(Refer to survey chart C)
The results of question 5 seem good as long as the clean up
day continues. If the clean up day was not offered, many residents
would end up storing their junk either inside or outside. Many
would take their junk to the landfill, although having enough money
to do so was cited as a problem. Some would bring junk to the
proper recycler while a few would burn theirs. A few people did
not know what they would do with their junk. Most people cited the
Landfill
as the place they would bring their junk if the clean up
day was not offered probably because the majority of the junk was
landfill material rather than recyclables.
In general, the clean up day is valued and should continue
even if tax money is needed. More junk is coming from inside
rather than outside and most people would keep their items if the
clean up day did not exist. Participation and volumes of items
taken in seem to be rising slightly each year (not counting 1991).
The program is growing and the city should be pleased with it's
success.
Based on my research, survey, and hands-on involvement with
the clean up day, I came to several promising conclusions. First,
properly disposing of waste materials costs only a fraction of what
it costs to buy them in the first place. Disposing costs should be
figured in to the cost of owning the item and accepted before
purchasing the item. Most waste materials can be processed by
recycling companies if the effort is made by the individual to
bring the material to the proper place. A myriad of uses and array
of new products can come from wastes. While many items have low
disposing costs, many are worth money.
It is almost impossible for someone as an individual to solve
our environmental problems some of which are global in proportion.
However, each individual can do their small part to preserve the
environment. Many individuals who are all living in an
environmentally sound manner and working together can eventually
take on and hopefully solve larger if not global environmental
problems. Small community efforts to coordinate recycling/cleaning
programs can work as Otsego has demonstrated. Grass -roots
I
nvolvement and volunteer effort can achieve success. Federally
financed, organized, and implemented programs are not needed if
small communities work together to get the job done. Otsego has a
successful clean up day and is an example of the type of effort
that needs to be made if humankind wants to preserve the planet.
55
5
4
4
3
3
2
2
1
1
5
0
Survey chart A: Questions 1-3, 55 people surveyed.
YES NO YES NO YES NO
54 1 53 2 47 Q
Question 1 Question 2 Question 3
1. Is the clean up day valuable and should it continue?
2. Does the clean up day inspire other clean up projects
around your home or yard?
3. Should city tax dollars be spent to sponsor a clean up
day8
45
40
35
30
2
2
1
1
5
0
Survey chart no Question 4, 55 people surveyed.
HOUSE GARAGE SHED YARD PASTURE DITCH FIELD BOTH
Question 4
4. Are your items coming from inside, (house, garage, shed),
or from outside, (yard, pasture, ditch, field), or both0
30
2
2
1
1
5
0
Survey chart C: Question 5, 55 people surveyed.
Items to Garbage Proper Burn Store in Store in Other*
Landfill hauler recycler bldg. yard
29 6 8 4 16 16 4
Question 5
*Don't know
5. Where would your items go or what would you do with them
if the city did not have the clean up day?
1993.
Works Cited
Furdie, Tim. Personal interview.
Hudson, Judy. Personal interview.
Sherrier, Phil. Personal interview.
21 May, 1993
12 April, 1993 and 28 May,
21 May, 1993.
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