Video to help kick off Texas Recycles Day

  • Published
  • By John Ingle
  • 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Sheppard's Recycling Center is stepping it up again Nov. 14 to educate people on the importance of recycling as the annual Texas Recycles Day kicks off Nov. 15.

The center will launch a video Nov. 14 that will show how to recycle properly in the workplace, and discuss some stark realities about the effects of not recycling. For example, while the United States accounts for about 5 percent of the world's population, it accounts for 40 percent of the world's trash.

"If it's not convenient for folks, they're not going to (recycle)," said Rick Milhollon, chief of the 82nd Civil Engineer Squadron's Environmental Flight. "But, it's the right thing to do."
Mr. Milhollon said Sheppard has worked to make recycling convenient, on and off duty. Crews patrol the base weekly and stop at different locations to pick up recyclable materials; sometimes even going into buildings with multiple pick-up sites.

A key to the base's program has been the creation of the 24-hour drop-off service at Bldg. 2140. He said 10 slots are on the west side of the building for cardboard, aluminum and tin cans, paper products, plastics, newspapers and magazines. Not all plastics, however, are accepted.

For those who think their recycling efforts won't make a difference, consider this fact from americarecyclesday.org: the average American throws away about 4.6 pounds of garbage every day. That doesn't sound like much, but given the roughly 19,000 military and civilian personnel - not counting dependents - that's more than 87,500 pounds of garbage thrown away every day on Sheppard.

"Sheppard averages about a 50 percent diversion rate," Mr. Milhollon said, adding that the diversion rate is the amount of waste not sent to a landfill. "The Air Force's goal is 40 percent."

Although Sheppard appears to be doing a good job at recycling, Mr. Milhollon said there is a large percentage of the base that doesn't realize there is a 24-hour recycling option, even for items folks want to bring on base from home.

"I feel like we haven't done a good job communicating that to the folks," he said.

But, then came along the idea to create a video to educate the masses on Sheppard's program. Jessica Santellana, the recycling point of contact for the 782nd Training Group, and a few others took on the task of seeing the video through from beginning to end.

Mrs. Santellana said she didn't realize how little people knew about recycling until she started going around the base during the production phase of the video.

"People who have been here for years didn't know (about the 24-hour recycling option)," she said. "Some didn't know where the recycling center was. They only knew about the pick-up days."

The more than 7-minute video became a mission for Mrs. Santellana. She said recycling isn't an option any more.

"It's something that everyone is going to have to embrace to make a change," she said. "To make a difference."

Sheppard made a significant difference in 2007. More than 3,840 tons of material - including 1.3 million pounds of cardboard and another 2.1 million pounds of food waste that was donated to the City of Wichita Falls for their compost program - was recycled, re-used or donated, accounting for a cost avoidance of $1.4 million.

"We're helping to contribute to recycling in Wichita Falls," Mr. Milhollon said. "It's being put back into the community." 

To view the recycling video, click here.