Tag: recycling

Categories
We Recommend We Recommend

Metal Museum’s “Radical Jewelry Makeover”

The Metal Museum’s latest exhibit turns recycling into art. (Photo: RJM Press)

Reduce, reuse, recycle. It’s a mantra we’ve all heard so many times that it’s been reduced to a bit of white noise amid loudening concerns about the environment, climate disasters, supply chains, ethical consumption, the list goes on. Still, the three Rs are a good practice to keep, most would agree, but it’s hardly enough to feel special or creative. But the practice of repurposing has gotten a bit of a new shine thanks to a project that’s been around for the past 15 or so years that reuses and recycles donated jewelry into something beautiful. And now, that project is coming to Memphis’ Metal Museum in the form of an exhibition: “Radical Jewelry Makeover: The Artist Project.”

“Ethical Metalsmiths is a group of artists and they started this project called Radical Jewelry Makeover,” explains Laura Hutchison Bhatti, director of collections and exhibitions at the museum. “Their focus is sustainability in the jewelry industry. So it’s a lot about putting focus on things like over-mining and all the discarded stuff that people just get rid of, and they take these crazy pieces, they send artists bags and bags of this discarded jewelry that’s really set to go to, like, Goodwill or just sits in jewelry boxes, but instead, the artists make these beautiful pieces out of them.”

For the exhibition, the Metal Museum will have over 70 works on display by over 25 artists, all invoking their own styles. Some use costume jewelry; others use precious heirlooms. “There’s a lot of play with the unexpected and with elevating low-quality jewelry pieces to a high-end market,” says Alicia George, special projects advisor, who curated this exhibit. “And then also melting down heirloom jewelry pieces and repurposing them into more artful modern jewelry, so there’s a constant flux between expectation and what you actually see.”

“They all tell a story,” adds Bhatti. “And with metalwork, there’s always an element of metal being repurposed or melted down or refabricated into something new, but the story of these pieces is much more tangible because you can see the remnants of what it used to be.”

The exhibition space itself is set up to look like a jewelry box, George says, with red and purple velvet panels and velvet-lined display cases. To boost the museum’s own sustainability efforts, the velvet is mostly recycled. Plus, the drapes that also decorate the space are on loan from Opera Memphis, and all the label information for the pieces is printed on recycled paper. “We’re trying to be a part of the movement and maintain the idea behind the Radical Jewelry Makeover,” George says.

The exhibition is on display through April 14th. Radical Jewelry Makeover co-directors, Susie Ganch and Kathleen Kennedy, will join the Metal Museum for the opening reception and artist talk on February 11th. RSVP to attend at metalmuseum.org.

To coincide with the exhibition’s run, the Metal Museum will also offer two classes (February 10th and March 16th) for those who want to create a one-of-a-kind piece of their own. Students will be able to bring their old jewelry or use provided pieces, and then will learn how to take apart old jewelry and repurpose it into new jewelry using rivets, glue, and wire. Register for a class at metalmuseum.org.

“Radical Jewelry Makeover: The Artist Project” Reception & Artist Talk, Metal Museum, 373 Metal Museum Drive, Sunday, February 11, 3-5 p.m.

Categories
News News Blog

COVID-19 Halts Recycling Services

A temporary halt on recycling services begins today and continues until further notice as a quarter of the city’s solid waste crews either have COVID-19 or are in quarantine.

City officials announced the move Friday. The city’s solid waste management department “is aware and understands residents’ concerns regarding recent collection delays.” Service is down, they said, because of the pandemic.  Chris Shaw

Recycling and garbage will be picked up as one until further notice.

“As a result of these extensive absences, we are unable to fully staff the waste and recycling work forces. Beginning Monday, December 7, 2020 until further notice, solid waste crews will collect garbage and recycling as one (combined collection removal) to mitigate collections delays,” reads a statement. “Residents should bring their garbage and recycling carts curbside by 7 a.m. on your regularly scheduled day. Crews will continue to work extra shifts to service your areas to the best of their ability.”

For those who want to continue to recycle, officials said three drop-off locations will remain open seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Downtown: Mud Island Drive (north entrance of Mud Island Park)

Southeast: Hickory Hill Center (3910 Ridgeway)

East Memphis: about 300 yards from Germantown Parkway, just south of the Shelby showplace Arena at Agricenter International

“We apologize for this inconvenience and ask for your patience and thank you for your cooperation and support during this unprecedented time,” reads the statement. 

Categories
Opinion Viewpoint

Hail the Man!

Some years ago, my older son took part in a first-grade career day, where students were asked to select a profession and dress up to illustrate their choice. He picked painter, and I don’t mean Monet.

Although his father went to work every day in a suit, he didn’t choose a white-collar job. At the time, his dad and I were renovating houses and apartments and he was around a lot of tradesmen, many of them painters, so, to his 6-year-old eyes, I guess climbing ladders looked like way more fun than carrying a briefcase. I got him white cargo pants, a white T-shirt, a white cap, a brush, and an empty paint can.    

When I was a child, my career dreams were decidedly less physical than house painting: nurse, teacher, artist. But one thing I never wanted to be was a garbage man. You probably didn’t, either.

This is something to keep in mind as we debate the much-opposed Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) plan to fund increasing waste management costs.  

It seems that whenever sanitation employees are mentioned, some outraged citizen will write a letter to the editor whining that it’s just not fair that these workers get to go home after completing their routes, even if they haven’t worked eight hours. One of our city councilmembers recently opined that before adopting PAYG, we need to demand that the workers become more “efficient.” And by that, he meant working a “full” day. Yeah, like salaried, white-collar workers never leave early or take a long lunch.  

Sanitation workers toil in oppressive heat, bitter cold, and driving rain. And let’s not even dwell on what their olfactory senses have to endure. Then there are the crazy motorists who between texting and emulating NASCAR drivers must make a sanitation employee’s days seem like a game of deadly dodge ball. I say if sanitation crews get to go home early after performing a job every bit as essential as a policeman, I’m glad to pay them and let them enjoy the rest of their day.  

If you think sanitation workers are overpaid and underworked, then you should be advising your children to skip all that college debt and snag a cushy job as a garbage collector. And although the number of sanitation workers is shrinking due to automation, there will always be garbage and there’s probably more job security in that than as a middle manager in a corporation.  

But you won’t do that, because hardly any of us wants to work at something that is both physically punishing and thoroughly unpleasant, not to mention accorded so little societal respect. And we sure don’t want our kids to. I suspect most of the workers themselves are salting away money so their own children can aspire to an easier way to make a living.

Sanitation workers aside, PAYG has become necessary because it is cheaper in America to replace than to repair. Because we throw away some 133 billion pounds of food each year at the retail and consumer level. And because there are those who believe that recycling is either too much trouble or some socialist plot to take away our “freedom.”

For those who won’t compost or recycle and who think that those choices do not incur additional expense, consider that although the trucks have to run routes anyway, the city derives some revenue from recycling, but none from garbage. Plus, acreage has to be continually purchased for landfill, which then has to be covered over when it is full. Recycling even reduces the number of trash can liners you have to buy. Refusing to reduce, reuse, and recycle costs us all money.

So, instead of criticizing sanitation workers and trying to squeeze them to make up the shortfall, we should be honoring them. Their vocation allows us to live in a clean world that many Americans a century ago could only dream about. Their work prevents disease and the degradation of our soil, water, and air. They are no less necessary than a physician and way more useful than a politician.

And if you don’t want to pay for extra garbage bags, start filling up those plastic recycling bins or that second rolling can the city has provided. And leave it at the curb for people whose jobs most of us wouldn’t do for twice the money and half the hours.

Ruth Ogles Johnson is a frequent contributor to the Flyer.

Categories
News The Fly-By

City Rolling Out New Recycling Carts

CREDIT: Chris Shaw

The days of stale beer and vodka dregs leaking all over your foot as you carry the city’s small tan recycling tubs to the curb are almost history.

Earlier this month, the city’s Division of Public Works began the rollout of large, wheeled recycling carts, with the hopes that the easier-to-use cart will lead to more recycling citywide.

Chris Shaw

same size as city trash bins.

The new 96-gallon carts are five times larger than the old bins, and the recyclables no longer need to be separated before going into the container. The first 15,000 carts were distributed to residential customers in areas of the city served by the city’s sanitation contractor, Inland Waste. Those include Hickory Hill, Eads, and Cordova.

Budget constraints kept the city from distributing all carts at once, but they should be given out citywide over the next three years.

In the spirit of “reduce, reuse, recycle,” Maitori Spencer, a spokesperson from the Division of Public Works, said customers may keep their old bins for other uses.

After partnering with the North Carolina-based recycling company ReCommunity and making the switch to a single-stream recycling system, Public Works Director Dwan Gilliom said recycling in Memphis is now easier than ever.

“Larger recycling carts lead to more recycling, and more recycling leads to more economic, environmental, and social benefits,” Gilliom said. “By offering an additional cart for recyclables, we’re taking another significant step in making Memphis a more sustainable city.”

The city partnered with ReCommunity in 2013 to create a single-stream recycling program, which eliminates the need for separation of paper, glass, and plastics.

ReCommunity has invested more than $5 million to retrofit their Materials Recovery Facility into a single-stream operation. The $5 million also went toward purchasing new recycling trucks. According to Karl Robe, a representative of ReCommunity, the old recycling trucks were badly in need of repair.

“The old trucks were in need of replacement, and because single-stream recycling requires trucks with less complexity and specialization, the city saved money,” Robe said.

With the new bins, both the city and ReCommunity are hoping more people will be inspired to recycle. They’re hoping to triple the amount of recycling the city does annually. Last year, the city’s Solid Waste Management department recycled more than 9,000 tons.  

ReCommunity will pay the city of Memphis for each ton of recycled material. Robe said that an increase in recycling could have a direct effect on new jobs in the area.

“Recycling brings more jobs to the region because industries throughout the southeast are relying more on recycled materials [as opposed to] mining raw material to create products,” Robe said. “In addition to creating local jobs, the larger carts will help divert more recycled materials from landfills and reduce landfill tipping fees.”

Categories
Opinion

Recycling and the Street-level Entrepreneur

stock-photo-11555671-recycled-bricks.jpg

The ingenuity, work ethic, and diligence of people who make a few bucks on recycling never ceases to impress me.

On my way home earlier this week I stopped for a few minutes to watch three men and a woman chip mortar off of old bricks at the site of a demolished building on Front Street. It was a hot day and it looked like hard work. A brick hammer is a nasty tool, with a business end that can take off a finger as easily as a piece of dried concrete. A foreman told me brick cleaners are paid by the pallet, and a good cleaner can do five pallets a day. One pallet has ten layers of bricks, 50 bricks to a layer, or 500 bricks in all. So a day’s work could be 2,500 bricks. The foreman and the brick cleaners didn’t tell me how much they make, but one pallet, cleaned and wrapped in plastic, would cost me $175-$250, I was told. For whatever reason, I noticed that the brick cleaners did not come back the next day or the next although there was still a big pile of bricks to be turned into cash.

Can hunters occasionally patrol my street and alley in Midtown, bagging aluminum cans from the recycling bin and dumpster that would otherwise be emptied by the city. It’s small change, at best. Iskiwitz Metals Recycling pays 52 cents a pound, and it takes about 30 cans to make a pound. So to earn five bucks for a meal at McDonald’s, you need 300 cans. Still, people do it.

Old tires can be turned into cash at a slightly better exchange, but this requires a vehicle to haul them. The going rate is 50 cents a tire. But City Councilman Harold Collins tells me the city only has $61,000 in its tire recycling program that began a few years ago and the county is not on board.

Old computers, phones, and iPads can be sold on Craigslist or websites such as Gazelle, but now we’re talking about a different class of consumer, even if some computers occasionally show up on the sidewalk for the overnight scavengers. A few weeks ago I was reliving the days of Tennessee Waltz with a federal prosecutor. The undercover operation was based on a phony company called E-Cycle Management that acquired used computers and supposedly sent them overseas to be reconditioned and sold. The business model was not as far fetched as the feds thought at the time because I have since seen stories about real companies doing this.

One of the most creative recycling ventures I have seen recently involved the bundles of Memphis Flyers on the loading dock on the north side of our building next to the parking lot. An unfortunate occupant of one of the condos upstairs parked his sports car near the dock and came out the next morning to find his wheels missing. The car was propped up on, you guessed it, bundles of Flyers.

I was curious about container recyling on a large scale, and called Marge Davis of Scenic Tennessee, which produces a bottle bill resource guide. Proponents of a bottle and can deposit bill took this year off after failing to get a bill to the floor in previous years, but plan to introduce a new bill in 2013 if they can find sponsors. Senate sponsor Beverly Marrero of Memphis was not reelected.

Davis believes a bill would pass if it could get to the floor. Ten states have a cash deposit on plastic and aluminum drink containers, ranging from a nickel to ten cents. Michigan, where the deposit is a dime, claimed a 97-percent return rate. Tennessee, without a bottle bill, has a 10 percent recycling rate, Davis said.

Categories
News The Fly-By

What Goes Around

After musician Caleb Sweazy and his wife moved to Memphis, he hauled a large load of cardboard to a recycling center on Jackson.

“I had been saving it in my garage,” he says. “We had a lot of boxes from moving and buying stuff for our house. Everything comes in so much packaging.”

Sweazy had checked the city of Memphis Web site and found that the city’s residential recycling program would pick up cans, plastic bottles, glass, and paper, but not cardboard.

“It wasn’t as comprehensive as when we were living in Los Angeles,” Sweazy says of the program. “The big garbage bin you roll to the curb? We had one that size for garbage, one for recycling, and one for yard stuff.”

But just last month, as Sweazy was planning a second trip to the recycling center, the city announced it would begin accepting cardboard.

“International Paper came to us and said, ‘Hey, is there any way we can help you guys get corrugated cardboard and paperboard packaging into your program?'” says Andy Ashford, the city’s recycling and composting administrator.

Ashford says the main obstacle was collection.

“Cardboard is a bulky item. It was a matter of getting it into a collection vehicle,” he says. With help from IP, the city looked at how cardboard recycling was done in similarly sized cities and did some tests. The recycling trucks have two side chambers — one for paper, the other for plastic, metal and glass — and now have slots for cardboard items.

“When [cardboard] was cut to the proper size, our trucks seemed to dump okay,” Ashford says. “Cardboard [was not] included in our processing contract from the early ’90s, so we had to convince them we could deliver the product.”

Ashford guesses the addition of cardboard will result in a 5 to 6 percent increase in recyclables volume, adding somewhere between 1,000 to 2,000 additional tons of recyclables each year. In the last week, the city program collected an additional five tons of recycling, a move Ashford calls “encouraging.” He could also call it fiscally sound.

Each ton of recycling earns the city $25. It doesn’t cover the entire cost of the program, but it certainly helps. And with more people recycling, maybe it could.

The city’s recycling bins hold 18 gallons — the most common size nationwide, according to Ashford. Residents are encouraged to put their overflow into paper grocery sacks, but a larger container might entice them into recycling more.

“As our materials continue to grow, we may evolve to a larger, wheeled container,” Ashford says.

The city’s solid waste management program has also broken ground on a household hazardous-waste facility, expected to open to the public in December. The facility will recycle things such as batteries and flourescent lightbulbs. Flourescent bulbs are considered more “green” than traditional bulbs because they are more energy efficient, but should not be thrown away because they contain mercury.

Both the changes seem promising, but there are a lot of things the city and its residents could be doing — little, simple things that would help make a difference.

I remember flying into the Salt Lake City airport last spring and having a complete “duh” moment. The airport had been redone for the 2002 winter Olympics and was beautiful. But more impressive were the recycling bins for newspapers sitting next to virtually every trashcan.

Downtown — arguably Memphis’ current showpiece — could use some help in this area. Waste management is a residential program. Even City Hall isn’t served by the city’s recycling program; it’s served by a private recycling company. Shouldn’t public spaces have more places to recycle? And couldn’t tax-paying businesses — corporate citizens — be included in some sort of citywide recycling program?

A friend of mine has an idea of putting recycling bins for plastic bottles and cans downtown. If a recycling center were located nearby, area homeless could take the cans and bottles and redeem them for cash. Or the city could recycle them in other ways.

On the beaches of Fort Lauderdale, recycling containers are buried five feet into the ground, enabling money-saving pick-ups once every few weeks. The containers are designed to reduce odors, and keep animals and insects out.

In Pasadena, California, bottles from bars and restaurants are picked up as part of a pilot program. The city got a grant that enabled them to buy collection bins for the restaurants, as well as collection trucks.

Closer to home, the Tennessee legislature has a bottle bill pending. Under the proposal, consumers would pay a 5 cent deposit for bottles at the point of purchase and would get that deposit back when they returned the bottle. Consider it a cash incentive to recycle.

I’m not saying that it’s going to be easy (although most of these things don’t seem hard, just a little labor intensive). But we should be looking at ways to make recycling work for the city, not finding reasons why it can’t.

Caleb Sweazy says he started recycling because he couldn’t continue throwing things away and feel good about himself: “The idea of all this stuff going into a landfill really bothered me. I pictured all these plastic bottles — imagine if you had to keep that stuff and carry it around with you.”

And, in a way, we do.