The Third Part of a 3-Part Series on Recycling

"What More Can St. Paul's Do?"

We have found an opportunity to recycle more of the stuff that ends up in the trash cans in areas like the Timothy Lounge, the Main Lounge, the classrooms, and the SPY areas. Kathleen Kennan and the youth will be obtaining, decorating, deploying, and emptying some new containers on a trial basis. We'll see how it goes!

In addition, we encourage all of St. Paul's families to take the recycling issue to heart. There is no room anywhere for more landfills so the pressure is on to keep our stuff out of the exising ones. And stuff you recycle that might eventually float down streams to the river, then the bay, then to the ocean, etc. keeps it out of the Atlantic Ocean garbage patch. That's my name for the closest of several swirling masses of debris in our oceans. You might think you're immune to any effects from these swirling masses except that the fine plastic particles in them are eaten by fish. No problem so far except that these fine plastic particles have an affinity for chemicals. The food chain is complete.

And an update to Article #1 "What Delaware is doing regarding recycling":

By September 15, every "house" in the state that is served by a private trash hauler will be offered recycling capability. You will receive an bill that covers both trash and recycling. This legislation has been a long time in the works and has the support of the trash hauling businesses and the environmental groups. It is a great step forward and I urge you to support it against attempts to dilute it.

Other entities in the state (commercial, government, apartments, businesses, schools. etc.) will start recycling by law at various dates out to about 2014.

And what about yard waste?

The best solution is to leave the grass clippings on the yard. Crunch up your twigs. Then contact your trash hauler for their options. Keep an eye out for public options that may emerge.

Recycling at St. Pauls: Part 2 of a 3-Part Series: "What Is St. Pauls Doing Now?"

Recycling at St. Pauls: Part 2 of a 3-Part Series: "What Is St. Pauls Doing Now?"

The short answer is that St. Pauls does much more recycling than you are aware of!

The Kitchen area:

Plastic, glass and cans are collected in a large tub and then taken to the recycling area by the dumpster.

Coffee grounds are collected in a container courtesy of the McIlvaine family. These end up in compost piles.

The Office area:

Waste paper is collected and taken to the recycling area by the dumpster.

The Sanctuary:

Extra bulletins are collected and end up in the recycling containers.

Unclaimed poinsettias from our Christmas display are put in the compost pile. The plastic pots from these poinsettias are re-used.

The Outside/grounds:

Yard waste is composted in an area behind the church courtesy of the "Garden Ladies" of the TMWC.

Limbs and branches are chipped courtesy of a chipper bought by Jeo Gloyd. The chips are used to mulch the church gardens. The church also uses wood chips donated by local tree surgeons for garden mulch -rather than buying commercial. These chips usually come from members' properties.

Miscellaneous:

Dead batteries from smoke detectors, heat sensors, pull stations, etc. are recycled courtesy of Lowell Underhill and the TMWC.

The ugly quilts that St. Pauls' women make are all made from used fabrics that have been discarded and donated by church members (old blankets, sheets, towels, draperies, fabrics etc.) - so these quilts are essentially products of re-cycling.

The Mission Room is usually filled with used donated items from members to be taken to charities - a form of recycling!

Next month: "What More Can We Do?"

Delaware's Plan for Recycling

"Delaware's Plan for Recycling"

Where can people recycle?

There are now 180 drop-off recycling centers in Delaware - like the one over at the library. And the number keeps climbing! Plus several communities now offer curb-side recycling.

Do people have to separate their stuff?

No. It is all now "single-stream". MIxed together. It's more convenient for people.

Do I have to clean up my recycle stuff?

It helps if it is free of odors and food. Minimizes the pests that might get into it either in your garage, car, or at the recycle center.

Where does it all go?

The Delaware Solid Waste Authority (DSWA) has 2 facilities where they accept recycling material from the drop-off centers and curbside programs and from other companies. There is one location in Milford Delaware and one in New Castle County (at 1101 Lambsons Lane near New Castle). Once the material comes to these facilities it is sold to end-users. The pricing fluctuates. It can be anywhere form $45 to $52 a ton. Some of the end-users are Waste Management from Baltimore, Blue Mountain from Pennsylvania, Omni-Recycling out of New Jersey and Greenstar from Pennsylvania. The end-users then transport the stuff to their MRFs. An MRF is a "Material Recycling Facility".

What happens at the MRFs?

The single-stream recyclables are placed on conveyor belts which automatically separate the different kinds of materials - with some manual help to remove trash. They have equipment that sorts the stuff into paper, metal, glass, etc. Then each type of material is compacted to be shipped to its destination to be used to make a new product. The newspaper might end up in a paper mill and the junk mail might end up at the Markell plant and be used to make toilet paper, paper towels or napkins. The corrugated cardboard might go to China. The end-users decide where the material goes.

How much left-over junk is there?

Less than 10 % of the original stuff is true trash.

Is there an MRF in Delaware?

Not at the current time.

Where does MY recycle stuff go?

Stuff from NCC most likely goes to the Blue Mountain Recycling MRF in South Philly.

Where can I get more information?

The Delaware Solid Waste Authority - complete information about the state's programs. www.dswa.com

A good explanation of the new single-stream program in Delaware

http://www.thecoastalpoint.com/content/lot_goes_delaware%E2%80%99s_new_singlestream

St. Pauls Green Team Update Feb 5th

Here's an update on Green activities in the church.

1. Boiler Replacement And The Energy Bills

Chris Fisher and I are assisting Rick Gamble and Bryan Wyckoff in gathering information to enable the Trustees to replace the boiler before the next heating season. A comfortable sanctuary is essential for the ministry of the church. The current boiler is the original (circa 1963) and is fading quickly. We really don't want to have to respond with a very expensive temporary solution if it dies. So, pray that it lasts for the remainder of this season.

A lot of work remains but here is what we're discovering in our research around boilers and energy efficiency:

a. There are obvious dollar savings with a higher efficiency boiler.
b. The next big area of opportunity regarding energy in the church is probably around more efficient and better management of lighting.
c. The next big opportunity is probably around behavior modification. In a building that is intermittently used, it is critical to keep energy using equipment OFF when not needed. You've probably all noticed times when the church is over-heated or over-cooled or over-lighted for no apparent reason. We can all use the building more wisely.

2. Innovative Ideas

Chris will be providing expertise around the potential use of roof solar panels. This takes a back seat to resolving the boiler issue but is going to be studied. No promises.

The Trustees are taking the lead, and we're reinforcing this behavior, of using less paper in the church. Committee leads are encouraged to use email to notify their members of activities vs postcards. Spread the word.
If you're getting paper that you don't need, tell the office.

3. Green vs Efficient Energy Usage

More efficient energy usage saves natural resources and money. Green energy uses the right energy sources so that both the earth's eco systems and future generations benefit. Our current boilers use natural gas. It's more "green" than oil or coal. If and when we use solar panels, they would be more green than buying Delmarva electricity, which is about 2/3 from coal and 1/3 from nuclear power. So, we're trying to move to both efficient and green energy.

4. The First Gift

Christians believe Christ is the biggest gift we have. But the Earth was the first. I fully expect questions at the Gates about how I treated it. It will be uncomfortable.


5. Answers to the questions posed in the Grapevine:

a. Responders said that recycling and solar panels were their most effiective green behaviors

b. 61 Years - is the time required for the earth's population to double at the current population growth rate. So, at about 2070, we'll have about 13 billion folks on the planet. May or may not taper off before then. But we've seen the effects of all the people from the start till now.

6. Please send me your green suggestions!


Regards
Mike Rominger
For the St. Pauls Green Team

How can we be more Green?

We are interested in capturing as many ideas as possible. We will evaluate them later. Remember "The only way to get GREAT ideas is to get LOTS of ideas!.

Here are a few suggesitions we may be able to do:

Plan room usage to minimize energy consumption
Turn off lights
Use Lo-flow toilets and urinals
Walk to church
Bike to church
Pick up trash
Have recycling containers in each room
Construct the recycling containers for cans as "targets"
Post signs: such as "Turn off lights", etc.
Post sign: "Reduce/Reuse/Recycle"
Stop using plastic and styrofoam
Reduce heat and A/C use
Encourage walking and biking to church
Carpool
Pick up friends enroute to church functions
Promote a manual wheelchair instead of electric
Build a compost pile
Don't use lawn fertilizers
Unplug electronics when not in use
Install electric hand dryers in washrooms
Encourage hand pumping of air mattresses on youth outings (vs electric pumps)
Use candles
Hold daytime meetings to avoid lighting expense
Use rain barrels
Build a "community" garden
Use rechargeable batteries in the church
What if everyone brought their own energy source to church on Sunday?
What if everyone pedalled a bike during church to generate enough power to run the church?
Turn off lights when not needed
Don't automatically turn on lights if they are not really required
Do not flip multiple switches to light an area if only one circuit is needed
Have a VBS program with an environmental awareness theme.
Provide more heat-repelling window treatment for the church(awnings, films, blinds, etc).
Encourage the use of reuseable water bottles vs single-use cups.
Install solar panels on the room of the "new wing" and the "old wing".
PUt a big real-time energy meter in a prominent place in the church.
Publish the amount and cost of the church energy consumption in the Grapevine.