Saturday,
July 5, 2008
~ RECYCLE! REUSE! REPEAT!
~
Alaska’s
huge land mass is not very populated in most places, so most
recycling by those
who live in the rural areas are done by themselves,
because they don’t have a place to drop off their
used items.
Jars
are cleaned, disinfected and
refilled
with things like honey
(from your own honey boxes) jams, jellies and
syrups(made from harvested wild berries), And empty jars and bottles are
also used for canned goods, like veggies
(grown in the garden),
and meat (from hunting).
Discarded food items and liquids, are buried in a place called a compost
pile, and
after a time, the dirt from this compost is used in the
gardens for fertilizer
and growing spectacular gardens.
Alaskans
save and stash whatever parts and pieces they have,
because
it is hard to get most larger items into the remote areas in Alaska,
plus there are extreme freight prices due to limited access
and
distance to the
rural area’s towns
and villages.
We
do have a privately funded, non-profit organization here
in Alaska
called ALPAR
(Alaskan’s for Litter Prevention, and Recycling).
This
organization is dedicated to getting the word out all over Alaska
on ways to recycle,
and has provided
numerous services and programs to
promote recycling
and litter control.
Recycling
Center in
Alaska
Photo by Unknown Artist
ALPAR's
Motto is: Recyclers Rule!
“We can recycle
lots of different
things in Anchorage,
and unlike
lots of other
places,
it's free as long as we can take our materials
to the drop sites.
Another great
thing is that in Anchorage,
the
recycling system
is a business that operates without charging fees to
residents. And to
keep the business of recycling going strong, there
are lots
of things that we can do to help in the process!”
Here
is a partial list of the important things that ALPAR does.
ALPAR
Flying Cans
Rural
communities throughout Alaska send their aluminum cans to
Anchorage for
recycling, thanks to Northern Air Cargo, and member
airlines
of the Alaska Air Carriers Association.
Can-Do
Kids
Kids
can do a great job of recycling! They earn pocket money and prizes
when
they turn it aluminum cans at the Smurfit-Stone (Anchorage)
Recycling Center.
ALPAR
Youth Litter Patrols
Summer
jobs picking up litter! Kids work in ALPAR'S Youth Litter
Patrols all
over Alaska.
They help rid the communities of littler
and remind everyone to dispose of
litter properly.
Sponsored in part by ConocoPhillips Alaska,
Inc.
Volunteer
Community Clean Ups
Across Alaska
Volunteers
all over the state pitch in to help clean up their
communities every
spring. This year, ALPAR supplied over 200,000 free
bright yellow clean up bags
to 160 communities. Since 1990, we've given
away over 2 million bags to help
clean up Alaska.
Sponsored in part by BP Exploration (Alaska),
Inc.
Public
Awareness
ALPAR
publishes the yearly Guide to Recycling for Anchorage
and the MatSu.
In addition, we
create public
awareness campaigns that educate the
public on recycling
issues and litter
prevention. Thanks you to all our media contributors
including the Anchorage
Daily News, GCI Cable,
the radio stations
of Anchorage Media Group,and many,
many more.
Beautiful
View of
the Tanana
River
Photo by K. Fields
Alaska
is a beautiful place on this planet!
The
people who live here
strive to keep it
like this, this is not to say that we
don’t have
some issues, but
they are few and far between.
Majestic Mountain Range in Alaska
Photo by K. Fields
We
want to keep our Rivers, Lakes, Streams and Creeks pristine, and
our
Land litter free!
See also: Environmental Safeguards?
Later...
K Fields
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