West Fork teachers learn first hand about recycling
Posted on Thursday, September 4, 2008
The week before school started for local children, their teachers were already working hard preparing the classrooms and lesson plans.
On Thursday, Aug. 14, West Fork teachers were invited by Washington County to participate in a solid waste tour as they were getting ready for the coming school year. The tour began bright and early at the Washington County Conference Center. The teachers were joined on a bus by hosts Sophie Stephenson and Beth Scism of Washington County Environmental Affairs and Recycling.
The group headed out to the Fayetteville Recycling Center for a first hand look at how recycling is handled in Fayetteville. Then it was on to lunch and more information. A presentation on composting was offered by Stephenson. Teachers were shown what an amazing job wors do when composting.
Baridi Nkikheli, the director of Department of Sanitation with City of Fort Smith, spoke about how the City of Fort Smith handles their landfill and recycling. Teachers learned more about how city trash is handled.
Nkikheli, said of the landfill," It's not just a dump anymore, it's really a dry tomb. "He explained the City of Fort Smith's plan for entombing their waste.
After being treated to lunch by Washington County, the teachers went on a bus trip to the Co-op Extension Compost Demo Site, where different methods of composting were discussed.
Then it was back on the bus for a trip to the Tontitown landfill. A tour was presented by David Hausam, a consultatant with Waste Mangement. Both landfills are rated class 1, plus they had facilities for other classes. class 1 is household waste. A class 1 landfill is required to have a ground liner to prevent leachate (liquid created when rain water mixes with the trash ) from coming in contact with the ground water.
The tour finished with a discussion on burn barrels by Robyn Reed. Reed discussed the negative health effects of burning household trash. She explained that though, people in our area have burned trash for generations, it is not only harmful, but illegal. Reed further explained that what is in our trash has changed over the years and what past generations were burning wasn't as harmful as the trash we produce in this generation.
. The tour was packed full of information for the teachers to take back to their classrooms.
Grand opening Hawgtown Pizza will have a grand opening on Saturday, Sept. 13, at 11 a.m. There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony and pictures. Maybe a cake. The public is invited to attend.
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