BUILDING OHIO
PICTURED: Jake Sanko recycles cardboard waste at Athens-Hocking recycling center.
SOUTHEAST OHIO TALKS TRASH Grant helps the region ramp up recycling and conservation STORY BY WILL PRICE | PHOTOS BY TAYLOR LINZINMEIR AND EMMA STEFANICK
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he conveyor belt work started around 3 p.m. work, [that it] can turn in good things for our community, Rural Action volunteers set up numerous clearly- in terms the environment, but also economically,” marked waste stations while supporters ate from Newman says. food trucks, listened to bands, and watched skate Newman says raising awareness for what people demos at the Athens 2 0 1 Skate Jam, an all- day benefi can t do around Southeast Ohio is the best way to make concert for the Athens Skate Park. As skaters lined up a di erence. One way Rural Action raises awareness around the rim of the park, Shane Benton and Hannah with events involving their Centers for Hard to Recycle Kopp sorted the accumulating waste to make sure Materials, or CHARM days. “What we wanted to do is everything went into the right bin. They worked most of establish an actual center for hard to recycle materials and the day. then get these bits,” Newman says. Their e orts were part of a wider movement The company works to collect things like reusable throughout the region, where volunteers with Americorp batteries, mattress parts and medical materials. and Rural Action work to promote recycling and other They then look to work with others who can best waste- e cient initiatives. The Ohio Environmental distribute those materials. “Our job was to get t Protection Agency issued a grant of over $600,000 this compartmentalized and fi nd somewhere we take i summer to numerous companies in Southeast Ohio to Newman says. “We linked up with it with an outfi t tha support these e orts. recycles that stu and also gets close to people i RuralActionwasoneofthebenefi ciaries.EdNewman, their area.” the director of Rural Action, says this focus is necessary, Other e orts include the waste stations a as waste has been mismanaged in the region for years. around the region, such as at the Athens Skate Jam. “At one point, Ohio was the second largest importer of Hannah Kopp saw fi rst- hand the kind of negative waste in the nation, ” Newman says. “We were a sacrifi e ects ce landfi lls can have when she visited one las area for {the country’s} overconsumption.” Now, she hopes to spread awareness. Newman has worked in waste management for “They always say it takes a village to do things, and I feel over 20 years. He works with numerous organizations like that’s really important,” Kopp says. “When people learn to reduce waste and create a healthier environment about how to divert their waste, it really adds that collective throughout Southeast Ohio. knowledge on how we can like help to not only reduce waste The workload doesn’t bother him. “I believe in the intothelandfillbutalsoreducewasteingeneral.” 36 | WINTER/SPRING 2022
