Solid Waste Program Recommendations

1
Solid Waste Program Recommendations

• Crow Creek Utility Committee
• November 14, 2002

2
Some solid waste truths

• Trash is a persistent problem for everyone,
  everywhere.

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Solid waste truths (continued)

• Solid waste issues never get much respect or
  attention. But how a community deals with its
  garbage affects the peoples health and safety,
  its prospects for economic development and its
  self-respect and morale.
• Solid waste reduction efforts pay off. The less
  solid waste you make on the front end the easier
  it is to manage it and the less you spend
  disposing of it.

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Solid waste truths (continued)

• The fewer times you handle trash the less it
  costs you. Moving garbage around, sorting and
  storing it increases risk of staff injury, odor
  problems, insect and varmint problems, too.
• Its always better to bury trash in somebody
  elses land than in yours. Landfills are costly,
  risky and even the best designed are hardly
  attractive.
• One persons trash can be another persons
  treasure or business opportunity. Having a
  waste exchange in place can keep big items off
  your disposal bill, help people who can least
  afford it, and provide opportunities for small
  businesses.

5
Solid waste truths (continued)

• If you build it, will they come? Top-of-the-line
  trucks, containers and facilities alone wont
  make a solid waste system that works if people,
  your customers, dont use them.
• You cant make them do it. Changing peoples
  trash disposal habits requires information,
  motivation, encouragement and patience ... BIG
  helpings, frequently, for a long time. But the
  potential payoff is huge.

6
Outline of recommendationsMake best use of your
advantages!

• Use compactor trucks to pickup most residential
  and commercial solid waste and drive directly to
  landfill.
• Youre near a landfill with a minimum capacity of
  30 45 years charging a reasonable tipping fee.
• Direct transport means no dumping, sorting or
  handling time or risk.
• It also minimizes odor and insect and vector
  attraction.

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Outline of Recommendations (2)

• Establish a Materials Recovery/Sorting Facility
  to accept large and special waste items.
• Provides a secured, stable site to accept and
  stockpile special items like tires, white goods,
  furniture and construction debris.
• A basic facility can become a reality quickly yet
  allow for expansion as the program and its
  services mature and grow.

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Outline of Recommendations (3)

• Make best effort to access available grant money
  to equip the solid waste program.
• A new collection truck, roll-offs, hook truck to
  haul roll-offs, etc., as basic components of an
  integrated, self-reliant system.
• Grant funds available from several federal
  agencies for several dedicated purposes often go
  unclaimed.

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Outline of Recommendations (4)

• Give solid waste reduction and management the
  priority status it deserves.
• The importance given to solid waste issues by
  tribal leaders and decision-makers influences the
  view of tribal members and their level of
  participation in the programs.
• The level of commitment to making improvements
  demonstrated by tribal officeholders and decision
  makers can have significant impact on many
  things.

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Outline of Recommendations (5)

• Maximize efforts at solid waste reduction to ease
  costs of management and disposal.
• Explore options like composting and reuse.
• Explore starting small-scale recycling of a few
  common materials.
• Access dedicated grant funds, existing guidance
  materials and networking available from several
  agencies and organizations.

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Outline of Recommendations (6)

• Make tribal members stakeholders in the process
  win their hearts and minds.
• The more chance they have to be involved the more
  they feel ownership, the more they care, the more
  they will do to help it succeed.
• Providing open access and information fosters a
  cycle of respect and connectedness.
• They represent a potential wealth of ideas to
  contribute an invaluable resource.