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WELCOME TO REGROUP

Re*Group was formed in Soldotna, Alaska, in 1989 to help get recycling going on
the Kenai Peninsula. Since then recycling has become, for many residents,
routine business. Because of the early efforts of Re*Group, the Kenai Peninsula
Borough's Department of Solid Waste has recorded yearly increases in the amount
of materials that are recycled. For more information about Re*Group, phone
283-4547.

 

Here are some articles from the Re*Group Recorder Newsletter.

 

5/15/98
1998 Home Show Worm Farm Winner, Tammy Gist.



 

Re*Group has been participating with GreenStar for the last four years at the
annual Kenai Peninsula Home Show. The drawing for the Re*Group Worm Farm is
always a favorite for kids and adults alike.

This year's winner, Tammy Gist, is a second grade student at K-Beach Elementary
in Soldotna. Tammy 's worm farm was a hit at her school for "show and tell."
Next year Tammy will be attending Tustumena Elementary and plans on taking her
worms to show to her new classmates there.

Good luck with your worms, Tammy!



 

 

10/15/96
RECYCLING IS GARBAGE?

An article this summer in the N.Y. Times Magazine attacking recycling as
"America's most wasteful activity" produced a welter of counter attacks from
recycling proponents. Green Star joins these other organizations and researchers
in disputing the writer's claims. We believe the facts clearly show that a
continued emphasis on recycling makes good economic sense.

A complete accounting of this writer's biased, inaccurate, nine-page litany of
complaints, and the factual responses to them is beyond the scope of this
article; however, if readers would like a detailed analysis prepared by the
Environmental Defense Fund, please call the Green Star office.

Some of the main "Anti-Recycling Myths" are summarized below.

Anti-recycling myth #1. Landfills are safe and the land for more of them cheap
and abundant:

Recent work to mitigate the hazards of the former Merrill Field Landfill in
Anchorage has cost the municipality millions of dollars. Land is a priced
commodity which, especially in heavily populated areas, is never "cheap." Land
which can be used for landfills also is never abundantly available, even in
Alaska. Nobody wants a landfill next door.

Anti-recycling myth #2. Recycling should pay for itself:

Do we expect landfills to "pay for themselves?" Recycling lowers disposal costs.
Over the long term, removal of solid wastes for recycling reduces the outlay for
disposal and lowers the environmental costs down the line. Recycling has spawned
thousands of new businesses experiencing tremendous growth and capital
expenditure. As expertise, innovation, and new equipment produce greater
profits, even more savings will result.

Anti-recycling myth #3. There are no markets for recyclable materials:

As new recycling businesses go into full production, "gluts" in some materials
will dwindle and the prices for recyclables will rise. The volume of scrap
materials is growing worldwide. As with all commodities, prices fluctuate over
time. When there's an "oil glut" do we stop producing, selling, and using
petroleum products?

Anti-recycling myth #4. Recycling doesn't save trees:

Recycling reduces the pressure to turn natural forests into tree farms. Demand
for wood and paper is rising, even with recycling. Worldwide demand for paper
cannot be met without recycling.

Anti-recycling myth #5. Stringent U.S. regulations ensure that the environmental
harms of manufacturing and using products are incorporated into their prices:

Most of the environmental costs of extraction, manufacturing, consumption and
disposal of virgin materials are not included in prices.

Anti-recycling myth #6. Laws and regulations compelling packaging changes are
hurting business:

The influence of legislation on production is grossly overstated. Most packaging
improvements are cost-cutting, safer, and have resulted from consumer demand.

Anti-recycling myth #7. Recycling is max'ed out:

We haven't even gotten close to maximum potential! Especially here on the Kenai,
the recycling rate persists at less than 10%, whereas municipalities such as
Seattle are approaching 50%. The fact is, that even in enlightened communities,
most recyclable materials are thrown away.

Anti-recycling myth #8. Recycling is a time-consuming burden:

If viable recycling and composting programs are in place, consumers will choose
to recycle for environmental as well as economic reasons. Many people who
recycle actually enjoy it!

Anti-recycling myth #9. Disposable is better than reusable food serviceware:

The author over generalizes the results of an isolated study to make this claim.
Most studies have found dramatically different results-reusable serviceware
saves money.

Anti-recycling myth #10. Recycled paper is too expensive:

Costs of re-manufactured paper have traditionally been higher than paper from
virgin material; however, with new equipment and more markets, this situation is
changing rapidly . The cost of recycled-content paper bought in large quantities
is now competitive and projections show that in the future the price of new
paper will exceed recycled paper

Recycling saves energy, reduces pollution and destruction of wildlife habitat,
and provides raw materials for robust and efficient industries. When articles,
talk show hosts, and "think tanks" claim to prove otherwise, please consider the
source and try to determine their hidden agenda.

Here on the Kenai Peninsula, thanks to the borough solid waste department and
educational organizations like ReGroup and Green Star, we have an excellent
foundation on which to build continued growth in recycling. We hope you join us
in making our local programs even better by countering anti-recycling propaganda
with the facts.



History of Earth Day

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Excerpt from a Catalyst Conference speech, University of Illinois, 10/6/90,
Former Senator Gaylord Nelson

For years prior to Earth Day it had been troubling to me that the critical
matter of the state of our environment was simply a non-issue in the politics of
our country. The President, the Congress, the economic power structure of the
nation, and the press paid almost no attention to this issue, which is of such
staggering import to our future. It was clear that until we somehow got this
matter into the political arena, until it became a part of the national
political dialogue, not much would ever be achieved. The puzzling challenge was
to think up some dramatic event that would focus national attention on the
environment. Finally, in 1963 an idea occurred to me that was, I thought, a
virtual cinch to get the environment into the political limelight once and for
all.

That idea was to persuade President Kennedy to give national visibility to this
issue by going on a nationwide conservation tour, spelling out in dramatic
language the serious and deteriorating condition of our environment, and
proposing a comprehensive agenda to begin addressing the problem. No President
had ever made such a tour, and I was satisfied this would finally force the
issue onto the nation's political agenda. The President like the idea and began
his conservation tour in the fall of 1963. Senators Hubert Humphrey, Gene
McCarthy, Joe Clark and I accompanied the President on the first leg of his trip
to Pennsylvania, Wisconsin,, and Minnesota. For many reasons the tours didn't
achieve what I had hoped for it did not succeed in making the environment a
national political issue. However, it was the germ of the idea that ultimately
flowered into Earth Day.

While the President's tour was a disappointment, I continued to hope for some
idea that would thrust the environment into the political mainstream. Six years
would pass before the idea for Earth Day occurred to me in late July 1969, while
on a conservation speaking tour out West.

At the time there was a great deal of turmoil on the college campuses over the
Vietnam War. Protests, call anti-war teach-ins, were being widely held on
campuses across the nation. On a flight from Santa Barbara to the University of
California/Berkeley, I read an article on the teach-ins, and it suddenly
occurred to me, why not have a nationwide teach-in on the environment? That was
the origin of Earth Day.

I returned to Washington in early August, raised the funds to get Earth Day
started, and prepared letters to 50 governors and to the mayors of all the major
cities explaining the event and requesting that they issue Earth Day
Proclamations. I sent an Earth Day article to all of the college newspapers
explaining the event and one to Scholastic Magazine, which went to most of our
grade and high schools.

In a speech given in Seattle in September, I formally announced that there would
be a national environmental teach-in sometime in the spring of 1970. The wire
services carried the story nationwide. The response was dramatic. It took off
like gangbusters. Telegrams, letters and Telephone inquiries poured in from all
over the nation. Using my Senate staff, I ran Earth Day activities out of my
office. By December, the movement had expanded so rapidly that it became
necessary to open an office in Washington to serve as a National Clearinghouse
for Earth Day inquiries and activities, at which point I hired Denis Hayes and
others to coordinate the effort.

Earth Day achieved what I had hoped for. The objective was to get a nationwide
demonstration of concern for the environment so large that it

would shake the political arena. It was a gamble, but it worked. An estimated
twenty million people participated in peaceful demonstrations all across the
country. Ten thousand grade schools and high schools, two thousand colleges, and
one thousand communities were involved.

In was a truly astonishing grassroots explosion, The people cared and Earth Day
became the first opportunity they ever had to join in a nationwide demonstration
to send a big message to the politicians - a message to tell them to wake up and
do something.

It worked because of the spontaneous, enthusiastic response at the grassroots.
Nothing like it had ever happened before. While our organizing on college
campuses was very well done, the thousands of events in our schools and
communities were self-generated at the local level. We had neither the time nor
resources to organize the ten thousand grade schools and high schools and one
thousand communities that participated. They simply organized themselves. That
was the remarkable thing that became Earth Day.

Don't ever forget, if you want to move the nation to make hard decisions as
political issues, the grassroots is the source of power. With it you can do
anything - without it, nothing.

If we are going to move the nation to an environmentally sustainable economy,
you and that young generation right behind you are going to have to do it - and
I think you will.

Earth Day Every Year

Earth Day went for twenty years until Denis Hayes saw both the need and the
opportunity to expand the scope of Earth Day internationally. For the 20th
anniversary, Earth Day was celebrated by more than 200 million people in 141
countries.

A new organization, the Earth Day Network, has emerged from the seeds that were
planted in 1990. The Earth Day Network has been founded by and for the grass
roots activists who have taken Earth Day "to heart" in their locales on an
annual basis. In 1994 alone, more than one million individuals attended Earth
Day events and thousands of volunteers participated in projects in all fifty
states.

The mission of the Earth Day Network is to increase awareness, responsibility
and action toward a clean, healthy future for all living things using Earth Day
as a catalyst. The Network's focus is people. The Network's commitment is
environmental.

Affiliated groups of the Earth Day Network include: Earth Day Canada, Earth Day
New York, Earth Day Illinois, San Diego Earth Day, Earth Day Northwest, Earth
Day Hawaii, EarthWays, St. Louis, Clean Air Council,/Philadelphia Earth Day '95,
Earth Day Greater Boston, Stamford Connecticut Earth Day, Earth Day Georgia,
EnviroBaldwin, Fairhope, Alabama, Ecology Action/Earth Day Austin Texas,
Michiana Earth Day, Earth Day Arizona, Northern Nevada Earth Day/Environmental
Leadership, Reno NV, GLOBE Ecology Coalition, Long Beach CA.

In addition to formal affiliates, the Earth Day Network supports and works with
other local volunteer groups around the country. Groups receiving support in
1995 have included: Earth Service, Inc., Los Angeles, Our Planet Dallas TX,
Friends of Sugar Creek, Crawfordsville, IN, Eco-Kansas City, Community Recycling
Center, Champaign IL, New Bedford MA Earth Day, and Citizens for a Better South
Florida, Miami.

The Earth Day Network is working with other organizations throughout the U.S.
Please inquire about contacts in your area.

Network Affiliate agreements, Sponsorship policies and Earth Day Organizing

Surveys (to list Earth Day activities as part of theannual events list) are
available by request.

"If the environment is a fad, then it's going to be our last fad . . .We are
building a movement, a movement with a broad base, a movement which transcends
political boundaries. It is a movement that values people more than technology,
people more than political boundaries, people more than profit." April 22, 1970,
Denis Hayes, organizer of the first Earth Day and Chair of Earth Day Northwest.

3/8/95

NOW CRIME AND RECYCLING ARE PAYING EVEN MORE!

From NPR, an item about New York City thieves stealing newspapers left out for
recycling. With the price nearing $100/ton, green crime now has become
profitable!

In fact, the price of recycled newspaper has gone up over 400% since last year.
Other recyclables have gone up, too. The prices paid for both cardboard and milk
jugs, for example, have risen over 200%; and for other products like glass and
white paper 30% to 90%. This is good news for us recyclers because it means the
loops are being closed and more people are using recycled products than ever
before.

It also means that there is no longer a "glut" of recylcled materials. They need
those recyclables now, so help support Re*Group's education programs with your
tax-deductable donations. And be sure to show your friends and relatives how
easy and fun recycling can be! Remember, Seattle recycles a whooping 48% of
their solid waste-we recycle less than 10%. Clearly, there is a lot of room for
improvement!

Remember, friends don't let friends not recycle!

 




Green Star of the Kenai Peninsula