Notes from my Recycle class on 3/14

We had 3 speakers tonight. First was the director of Willow Bend on teaching recycling to children. They teach a class at the recycle center once a month on the first Friday at 1pm for all ages. They also partner with the city, and the Azulita Project to teach recycling primarily to school children from K-6th grade. They also include climate change and renewable energy. The director spent her time mostly in telling us how to teach children.  The primary sugesstions were simple, clear, short, with lots of participation and demonstration,.

The next two speakers were about sustainable building - Nina Schmidt from Coconino County's Sustainable Building Program and Tom Elsass who is a local builder who emphasizes sustainable building practices.

The mission of the Coconino County Sustainable Building Program is to encourage, educate, support and develop sustainable building practices and processes for residents of Coconino County and all the communities within it.

Coconino County Sustainable Building Program offers the following services to all residents of Coconino County, and the cities and communities within it, for free:

•Consultations

•Certification Program

•Resources for Sustainable Building

•Code Support

•Educational Opportunities


Current Initiatives and Projects

•Construction Waste Initiative

•Pollinator Habitat Initiative

•Real Estate Initiative

•Radon Outreach

•2018 ICC Code Adoption

Why reduce construction/demolition waste?

25-40%  of landfill content is construction waste

80-90% of this could be diverted

Reducing construction waste:

•Minimizes waste of embodied energy

•Reduces methane emissions

•Saves money

•Reduces environmental damage

•Reduces landfill size

Tom Elsass talked about how our homes become sick and can contribute to our health. He talked about many things we should think about in buying or building a home. A few tidbits were remove any existing carpeting, and avoid carpeting if you can.  Look for natural materials (best flooring wood or cement). Avoid cleaners that are antimicrobial or antibiotic - use probiotic cleaners if you can find them. There was so much else in this lecture that you really needed to be there.

They both talked about how much building material goes into the land fill - 25-40% of the landfill is this. The city and county are both working on ways this can be changed. Places like ReStore that sell used materials are one answer, and the builder talked about thinking about remodels or refits rather than tearing down and building new. The county has a plan. Check it out on there site.