Archive: Around Town

Some folks went to learn about recycling.  Others just wanted to shop at the mall.  But everyone had a good time at the 10th annual Tompkins County America Recycles Day.  This year more than 80 exhibitors filled half the Shops at Ithaca Mall from Dick's Sporting Goods to the food court.  "The reason we're here today is because we're celebrating the 10th anniversary of Tompkins County's America Recycles Day," said Tompkins County Solid Waste's Linnett Short.  We have lots of things going on."

That was an understatement.  Aside from demonstrations, activities, games, and giveaways by exhibitors the event included performances by Tom Knight Puppets, Cornell University's EcoPlayers, Cayuga Club Toastmasters, a reading and performance of Nancy Young's 'Fingers to the Sky: A Sacred Tree,' and Compost Theatre.  Level Green's Patricia Haines wore a compact florescent light bulb costume, while Wendy Sasaki crocheted hats and bags out of reused plastic grocery bags and Lynn Leopold helped kids make paper out of recycled materials.  You can even be buried green at Greensprings natural Cemetary.


This was Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Service's first year at the event.  "It's going great," said Pamela Webster.  " We're hoping to get the word out to county folks that we now have a program that is outside of the Ithaca city limits.  We're providing energy improvements for anybody of any income in Tompkins County.  That can be covered by a 2% loan and if you're income eligible it can be covered by a grant of up to $5,000."


Webster had two different kinds of insulation inside a see-through plexiglass wall.  She asked visitors to tell her which of the two does the best job of insulating a house.  She said that energy-saving measures like good insulation can significantly reduce cost to homeowners.  "Affordability is really important for us, because this kind of work can bring your housing cost down by about 30%," she said.  "So for lower income families that can make a big difference, and it is certainly an important issue for our planet."

	Pamela Webster compares insulation EcoPlayers Linnett Short Wendy Sasaki

Across from Best Buy Tom Knight Puppets drew so many kids that you couldn't get into the store.  Later Compost Theatre faced the other way, leaving a path along the hallway.  B&W Supply had a display of 'paper' plates, and 'plastic' cups and 'silverware' made from corn, sugar, and potatoes.

2-1-1 Tompkins was there to launch their new service.  They were handing out chances to win prizes, and information about.. well... information.  The information and referral service can be reached by dialing 2-1-1 on a land line, and the Human Services Coalition, which runs the service, says it will soon be available on cellular phones as well.  They also had booklets listing hundreds of services available in Tompkins County.

The event wasn't just for education and fun -- you could also recycle things.  Visitors brought pumpkins to smash against a dumpster.  The remains were composted by Cayuga Compost.  Northeast Mobile Shredding brought the Shredmobile for those who wanted to safely dispose of confidential documents.

One of the stars of the show was a car that Alfred-based Casella Waste Systems Landfill District Manager Larry Shilling was showing.  He and some partners got together to adapt the car to run on waste wood products from sawmills or woodshops.  A 30 gallon barrel on the back of the car holds about forty pounds of wood blocks.  When burned, the blocks form a gas that is piped into the engine that makes the car run.

"Casella Waste does recycling and waste collection, and also operates a landfill," Shilling  explained.  "Casella is looking at this kind of technology to convert waste into fuels and energy.  In a gas form it's not very effective, but there are technologies that Casella is looking at to convert this gas into a liquid fuel that you could just put into your car."

He estimates that the car gets one mile to the pound, so it can travel about forty miles per barrel of wood, and that could be increased by using a bigger barrel.  They had to trailer it from Alfred, because the car doesn't have an inspection sticker.  That could be a problem: " We don't have an inspection sticker, because of the fuel," he said.  "When you go get it inspected there's no place for wood gas."

Southern Tier Energy Smart Communities' Gay Nicholson had a light bulb booth.  The Compare-O-Meter could be switched between a compact florescent light bulb (CFL), and one is an incandescent light bulb.  The meter slowed considerably when switched to the florescent.  Many people have shied away from compact florescent light bulbs because they are noisy, flickery, and not as bright.

"That's old news," Nicholson says.  "The CFLs have really changed in their engineering.  They now have electrical ballasts instead of mechanical ballasts, so they don't hum, and they turn on much more rapidly.  They're now color-balanced as well.  When you buy lights look for the warmer ranges to make sure you're getting that warmer incandescent kind of color.  They're everywhere now, and the price has come way down.  They last five, seven, ten years -- I've got some that are twelve years old."

Another issue is disposing of CFLs, because they are made with mercury.  But Nicholson says that New York is rolling out a state-wide program so that consumers will be able to drop them off at stores like Lowes or Home Depot.  She adds that they put much less mercury into the environment than the coal burning power plants that dominate power production in the state, as well as drawing less power from those plants.

Gay Nicholson

Nicholson also brought a collection of LED holiday lights, which she says use a tiny fraction of the electricity that traditional incandescent bulbs use.  She noted that they are available in stores and on the Internet, notably from the Interfaith Power and Light Group.  "They don't have a filament," she says.  "They are also more robust.  They don't break as easily in cold weather outside.  there is less corrosion because it's all an integrated design -- there's not a bulb that screws in or out.  They use a tiny, tiny amount of electricity.  70 of these bulbs draw about 4.8 watts."

Short estimated that nearly 1,000 people would visit the fair, which is the biggest recycling event in Tompkins County.  It started ten years ago at the Solid Waste headquarters.  When the event moved to the mall five years ago there were 15 exhibitors.  Last year that bumped up to 50, and with more than 80 this year Short is optimistic that it will continue to grow.  Each year she looks forward to the end of the day when things settle down and she can reflect on how well things went.  "At the end of the day when we have talked to everybody and we're closing down, I think we all get closer," she says.  "We talk about what went well and we give each other the high five.  It's just awesome at the end of the day.  That's my favorite time."


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