Archive: Around Town

Do you do the same old thing every Saturday?  Maybe it's time to recycle the day by doing something different with it.  That's what Tompkins County Solid Waste Division's Lynette Short has in mind for tomorrow (11/4).  From 10am to 4pm you'll be able to go to the Pyramid Mall for this year's America Recycles Day Fair.  "It's a county-wide effort to share the benefits and the knowledge that we have about recycling waste reduction and buying green," Short says.  "It's going to have a lot of carnival-like activities, contests, workshops, live shows, music, and 40 to 50 environmentally correct vendors."


America Recycles Day (ARD) is an all-volunteer national non-profit organization that seeks to encourage Americans to recycle and buy recycled products.  The actual day is Wednesday, November 15, but the local fair is planned for the weekend to get maximum attendance.  Founded in 1997, they encourage events all over the U.S.  When you come to tomorrow's fair you'll be able to sign a pledge to recycle that will enter you into ARD's contests to win an Alaskan cruise if you are an adult, or a bicycle if you are a kid.  Cooperative Extension will also have a drawing for three compost bins at the fair, as well as plenty of practical advice about composting.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Americans generated 245.7 million tons of solid waste last year, three times the amount generated in 1960.  Of that 58.4 million tons were recovered for recycling, 20.6 million tons for composting, 33.4 million tons were burned to produce energy and 133.3 million tons went to land fills.  32.1% of the materials were recovered, and 13.6% burned to create energy.  Paper products accounted for 34% of solid waste, the largest single category, followed by food scraps at 11.9% and plastics at 11.8%.

But while the underlying purpose of the fair is education, the point is to make it fun.  "We want people to bring their family and friends, and come and enjoy it for the day," Short says.  "It's all free."  An impressive lineup of entertainment, hands-on experiences, and vendors will make for a fun and interesting day for all ages.  Live music will be provided by Tom Knight and Crow Weaver.  Superheroes Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle will be in costume 'flying' around the mall all day, handing out tattoos and stickers, and directing people to the fair.

Short organizes the fair, getting all the vendors, performers, equipment and publicity together.  This is the fourth year it has been held at the mall.  There used to be events at the Solid Waste campus, but Short says that the mall is a better way to reach people.  "People who come here already come here," she says.  "We want to attract the people who don't come here.  So we started at the Pyramid Mall really small, and each year we've grown.  And this year will be huge."

Shows will include the popular Compost Theatre.  "Liz Fernandez and her partners do an actual show," Short says.  "It's hilarious.  She involves the audience, and they are a much wanted group.  It's adorable.  You have to be there to see it."  Also planned are carnival-like games like 'Toss the Recycling into the Bin.'  If you get five into the bin you'll win a prize.  Another game will be Recycling Pie Pan Golf.

When you drop off old computers and equipment at the recycling center, some go to Computer All-Stars, some to Babbage's Basement, while others go to React in Elmira to be reused or recycled in some way.  All three will be at the fair.  The Youth Bureau's Marty Schreiber, who runs Computer All-Stars, will be making clocks out of computer parts.  Whoever stops to make one will actually be able to walk away with a clock that's running.  Schreiber's organization uses teens to rebuild computers and distributes them to local families.  Babage's Basement will have computers with old games like Pac-Man for kids to play.

Lansing's Debra Meeker will be at the fair with her line of green supplies.  "She has a drain cleaner that is a little powder," Short explains.  "This little powder is dried up critters.  You put them into a liquid and shake it and pour it down your drain.  These little critters go to work and start eating all the stuff.  They're cannibalistic, so when they're done eating all that stuff they eat each other until one is left that starves to death.  It's environmentally safe.  It's not Drano!"

And speaking of Drano, there will a table on household hazardous waste.  The Solid Waste Division hosts six events each year in which homeowners can bring paints, chemicals and other hazardous wastes to the recycling center to be properly disposed of for free.  The last event for this year is planned for November 18.  "Anything except asbestos, explosives, that kind of stuff," Short explains.  "All you have to do is fill out a form for a permit to use the facility, and that's it.  We take it out of your vehicle.  We have people that properly package it to either be recycled, or to be disposed of."

You'll be able to recycle at the fair as well.  Homeowners will be able to bring in their personal papers to be shredded.  A truck will be waiting outside to bring the shredded paper to the recycling center.  Wendy Sasaki will be displaying makes hats, purses, backpacks, and other items she makes by crocheting plastic grocery bags.

Another table will tell people about the new fingerlakesbuygreen.com Web site, which provides a buying guide for local 'green' products.  Items include everything from overhead projector pens to cleaning and yard supplies, recommending local stores that carry the products.

Some of the many activities include ScienceCenter's Reinvention Station, Southside Community Center's Recycle Ithaca's Bicycles (RIBS), and Wendy Sasaki, who makes hats, purses, backpacks, and other items by crocheting plastic grocery bags.  Lynn Leopold will be demonstrating how to remake paper.  "She takes paper fiber and you can make paper and walk away with it," says Short.  "I love Lynn.  She's my superhero.  She's the one who got me started doing this."  Leopold will host a table of 'reuse projects' that show things like wool shrunken into felt, flowers made of egg cartons and buttons, and others.

Short exudes enthusiasm about her job, which includes giving presentations about recycling at schools and organizations.  She is especially excited about this year's fair.  "I love being there that day and seeing everybody have a good time," she says.  "And learning.  People that are learning something they've never seen before say, 'Oh gosh, I didn't know you could do that.  I didn't realize that buying cloth diapers is less expensive than it is to buy disposable diapers and the cost to throw them away.'

Intern Stephanie Egan was hired to work with Short on the fair.  Egan studied art history with a concentration in architecture at Ithaca College and is considering combining environmentalism with architecture.  "It's been a lot of fun and hard work," she says.  "I'm really excited to see how the workshops work, and how people are going to actually have a hands-on experience, to make something and take it home with them.  I think that's going to be the most exciting, because it will make the connection for everybody about what they can do in their own home, whether it's reusing things, recycling -- there are all kinds of things you can do in a household together."

The first year a couple of hundred people came to the fair, and it grew to last year's high of five to six hundred.  "I'd like to see it be a thousand before I retire.  That's my goal," says Short.  "Every year there are more people involved, more people wanting to do the right thing."  On Saturday doing the right thing will be just plain fun.  

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