I spent a majority of the month of March traveling. Near the end of February, Angel and I were in Anchorage attending the Alaska Forum on the Environment. I had a few days in Dillingham at the Bristol Bay Native Associations full board meeting. That was my first time at that meeting and it was a great learning experience for me. With a little break for Kokhanok Carnival, I was on the road again. In a few days I head to Anchorage again for a Solid Waste Administrators Training. I am teaching several How-To classes while I am there and have been working daily on my presentations and practicing them as well! First on the agenda there I present on how to get your community to separate and recycle house hold hazardous wastes. Then I have a short spiel on developing a community assessment/community surveys. Finally, Ted Jacobson and I will speak together on managing contractor waste in your community. This will be a fun and educational trip for me. Although I am very nervous about giving my presentations, I am happy to train and educate our rural village “neighbors.”
In March, Jack Wassillie attended RALO, Rural Alaska Landfill Operators training in Anchorage. There they cover all the rules and regulations we need to follow as operators of a Class III Landfill. This was his second time attending this training and he got to visit Total Reclaim, a large recycling facility in Anchorage that focuses on assisting rural Alaskan communities with recycling and backhaul. He enjoyed that visit and came home with a better sense of what we need to do to keep our recycling efforts flowing smoothly.
Other exciting news in the environmental department is the making of our first cardboard bale! It is on display at the Hangar! Please, stop by and take a look at all your recycling and sorting efforts.
Lastly, I just wanted to give some credit to our “Dump and Chicken Boys.” Bobby, Jared, Dan Jr., Lukas and Jeremy, they work each day to manage all of our trash. The last we think about our garbage is when drop we it off at the Hangar. From there, each and every day, rain, wind, below zero, these guys load Big Blue, the truck, with our stinky trash, get water and food for the chickens, drive out to the landfill (and hope trash is not flying around the tundra) and burn our garbage. In the chicken coop, they feed our birds, gather eggs, shovel poo from the floor, and lay fresh hay. All so you can enjoy the pleasure of fresh eggs for breakfast. That is not a treat you get in very many places, let alone rural Alaska! Once a week they also pick windblown trash at the landfill and make sure we look spic and span. We have been told many times by several entities that we have the cleanest landfill in Southwest Alaska, if not the state! That is something we take a lot of pride in knowing and these guys are the backbone of our landfill operation. Thanks guys! Here is a pat on the back from your community!
