| Trash
and Consequences
-
by Jaime Willis & Angela Gradoz:
Staff
Writers
 A
Dr Pepper can, a pizza box and this newspaper.
What do these items have in common?
Recycling.
In
1998, members of city council, the Wichita
Mountains’ Sierra Club and Fort Sill
exchanged ideas regarding the implementation
of a recycling program in Lawton.
Dr.
Lynn Musslewhite, former Cameron history
professor, and Mayor Cecil Powell agreed
that Musslewhite would chair a committee
to research and study the various recycling
programs of other cities, national and statewide,
in order to create a feasible program for
the Lawton area.
After
several meetings, Fort Sill representatives
offered the use of their recycling facility
to Lawton.
In
early 2000, a formal agreement between Lawton
and Fort Sill was signed in recognition
of their coalition to install a recycling
program in Lawton.
“Fort
Sill agreed to provide one recycling bin
and to send trucks out from Fort Sill to
carry back materials for recycling,”
Musslewhite said. “In exchange, [Fort
Sill] would keep the proceeds from the sale
of recycled materials.”
“I
felt strongly that Lawton, the city itself,
needed a recycling program,” Powell
said. “We have a landfill south of
Lawton, and those cells we haul our trash
to are very expensive to the taxpayers to
build.”
According
to Jerry Ihler, director of public works,
a cell is 3.5 acres, which must be lined
in accordance wiith regulations, and the
landfill is divided into such cells. Powell
mentioned that three were currently prepared
for use, along with the purchase of 600
additional acres. Ihler noted that the preparation
for each of the three cells was an estimated
$2.5 million, and that the cells can reach
a depth of 40 feet and be filled to a height
of 50 feet from ground level.
While
the first cell is expended, the second is
currently being filled. The overall cell
lifetime for the three cells is 10 years,
with roughly seven years remaining. As cells
are filled, more are prepared.
“The
600 acres should provide us an additional
40 to 50 years,” Mike Shaw, deputy
director of public works, said.
Powell
noted that 40 percent of the trash taken
to the landfill is recyclable; however,
Shaw said it was much higher.
“Anything
that goes into the landfill could be recycled,”
Shaw said.
For
the past 13 years, Fort Sill had been operating
its own recycling program, and since it
was not running to its full capacity, Powell,
along with the committee, felt their joint
efforts could be beneficial to the post
as well as Lawton.
“It’s
kind of expensive getting into the recycling
program,” Powell said. “We’re
called Lawton/Fort Sill, aren’t we;
we’re one. If there is already a recycling
program there, why duplicate it?”
Through
their partnership Lawton/Fort Sill has designated
three drop-off locations for recyclable
items. These locations accept aluminum and
steel cans, newspapers and magazines, cardboard
and office paper. The Ft. Sill drop-off
collects all these plus plastic and glass.
Despite
the endeavors of the Sierra Club, city council
and mayor, the recycling program has waned.
“We
got off to a good start, but efforts have
dwindled,” Musslewhite said. “The
program has lost momentum.”
Bill
Barwick, former manager of Fort Sill Recycling
Center, believes this loss of motivation
has caused a standstill in Lawton’s
current recycling program. Possible improvements
rest in the hands of the city council, as
well as the people.
“There
is nobody in the city government that tries
to make recycling an issue, no advocates
for recycling,” Barwick said. “You
have got to make the customer want to recycle.”
Richard
Null, supervisor of Fort Sill Recycling
Center, said, “The biggest drawback
is, ‘Why can’t people come on
post, recycle their stuff on post or even
downtown?’ We could have more people
working for us which in turn is more revenue
to the city because [workers] are going
to buy stuff downtown.”
The
current recycling program is run on a voluntary
basis; however, Powell said he would like
to see a mandatory recycling program somewhere
in the distant future.
Despite
the efforts to establish a successful recycling
program, some feel that voluntary is not
enough.
Since
the voluntary program’s start, 50
tons of recyclable items a year have been
collected from these three sites, according
to Shaw; however, 500 tons of garbage reach
the landfill a day.
“Mandatory
is the only way to go,”said Amy Ewing-Holmstrom,
city council representative for Ward Four.
“People aren’t going to recycle
if money is not involved.”
Until
the establishment of a mandatory recycling
program , Powell feels that educating the
community of Lawton on the benefits of recycling
is the only option.
According
to Null, educating civilians that commuting
on post is possible with a valid driver’s
license is important. Because a decal is
not required to enter the post, civilians
will more than likely undergo a vehicle
inspection.
However,
accessing Fort Sill is not the only obstacle
advocates for recycling face; there is no
incentive for recycling. The overall mentality
of the community, according to Ewing-Holmstrom,
is simply stated as this:
“Since
I am not getting paid for recycling, why
should I do it?”
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