Mayoral Report—2005

Recycling Matters!

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), on the average, Americans generate 4.5 pounds of waste each day. Annually, that accounts for over 80% of a ton of waste per American. The EPA also reports that only about 32% of the waste generated annually in our country is recycled. This special publication of Your City is dedicated to solid waste and recycling with the goal of encouraging more Beaverton citizens and businesses to participate in recycling.

Most of us want to leave a mark and also help make the world a better place to live. Some days, it seems almost impossible that you can a make a difference. Yet, you don’t have to go far for it to be possible to make a big difference in your own home and/or business. Try recycling at home and your business. You can easily recycle many home and work materials to help them avoid ending up in the waste stream in a local landfill. In addition, these materials can be re–used thereby avoiding the excessive and wasteful costs for the original natural resource extraction and manufacturing processes.

Since my older son is now out of college and living on his own, there are only three of us living in my household. Taking the national average of 4.5 pounds per person of waste generated daily as a guide, the three of us would generate nearly 5,000 pounds of solid waste annually, which is also equivalent to the weight of my van. Some years ago it was really my two sons who encouraged recycling in our household. Though they are nearly 13 years apart in age, both played their part in encouraging recycling at a similar age as they have grown up. Our older son came home from school one day and stated he had learned about recycling and wanted to know why we didn’t do it. So, we began recycling newspapers, glassware, metal and cardboard. Nearly eight years later, our younger son came home with the same demand that we recycle more–so we added all waste paper and plastics. Many citizens I have talked with have reported similar encouragement by their children–the Beaverton School District has really been a great partner in encouraging and promoting recycling!

The State of Oregon has set some noteworthy recycling goals for our region, which are being monitored and implemented in partnership with our regional government Metro. The State has mandated that we recycle 64% of our waste by 2009. Currently, the region recycles 57%. The City has received some financial grants from Metro to assist in these efforts. Utilizing some innovative and aggressive programs, I think the goal is attainable with the interest and cooperation from Beaverton citizens and businesses.

There are some very effective tools and programs being outlined in this issue of Your City to help promote solid waste recycling. In addition, some very slight lifestyle changes can go a long way in helping promote conservation, recycling and preservation of our natural resources. These include composting of organic materials, recycling of yard debris, utilization of paper bags instead of plastic bags, the use of recycled materials and the donation and/or sale of personal items and clothing to promote reuse of salvageable belongings.

I’m proud of our current community efforts to promote solid waste recycling and thank you for caring enough to do more!

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