October 10, 2012 - 9:30-11:00 a.m.

Sun Room, Plaza 3rd Floor

Attendance:

Present: Gloria Biow, Pat Canan, Denise Culberson, Marian Englander, Len Greger, Bunny Hirtzel, Paul Norseth, Jerry Schneider, Winnie Thomas, Verne Huffer Staff: Sam Narayan, Glen Whalen

Call to order and Introductions:

The meeting was called to order at 9:30 by Vice Chair Winnie Thomas. She introduced Glen Whalen, who has taken over some of the tasks of Mark Sorensen.

Glen answered many questions, asked by Green Team members, regarding sustainable practices at WV. Glenn disposes of light bulbs, including CFL’s, in environmentally sensitive ways. Many still-working appliances are sent to Habitat for Humanity. The fate of older appliances depends on condition. Refrigerators are picked up by a disposal company, and WV receives $40 each for them. Stoves are generally scrapped, and refrigeration units have to be cleaned. WV must pay for the recycling of TV’s. Vacuum cleaners are trashed, as is cabinetry that is worn or non-functional. Otherwise they go to Habitat.

Minutes

The September minutes were accepted as written.

Treasurer’s Report

Gloria Biow reported that the balance on 9/1/2012 had been $223.25, and that $38.00 deposits on bottles and cans had been collected, bringing the balance on 10/1/12 to $261.25.

Reports

  1. Recycling Sub-team, Bunny Hirtzel

  1. Cell phones are collected at reception desk and Chuck Tucker takes them to Verizon for recycling. Goes to Verizon, which scrubs them of information. Sam expressed doubts about how reliable Verizon is at the scrubbing.

  2. The pretty new collection bins are in place.

The Manor has a large bin for glass recycling, which requires a long arm and longer reach to safely lower objects into it. Winnie witnessed this difficulty causing a resident to fall. Sam suggested a small container next to the bin to gather bottles, but ultimately someone has to get them into the large bin.

  1. Resources Sub-team, Jerry Schneider

  1. Energy Trust of Oregon is not yet ready to go ahead with campus-wide replacement of bulbs and shower heads.

  2. Denise noted that there are River ridge homes, empty, that have lights blazing when unoccupied. Jerry added that sometimes A/C is left on.

  1. Outreach Sub-team, Len Greger

  1. The Recycle booklet is more-or-less complete, and is being circulated for comment. Before campus-wide distribution it will be reviewed by new residents for comment.

Pat Canan expressed concern with overloading new residents with too much information.

  1. Miscellaneous Efforts:

  1. Collection of Rx Meds, Gerald Pires

Gerald not present, but all who witnessed it reported that the collection went well. Contrary to expectation, there seems to dimishment of the large quantities of medications deposited.

  1. Plastic bags, Wilbur Gregory

Wilbur was not present to report.

  1. Refundable recyclables, Harold Black

Harold was not present, but the operation goes well (see Treasurer’s report)

  1. Ink Jet cartridges, Vern Huffer

Not all cartridges can be recycled, but others can, and we get cash for them.

d) Willamette View staff & administrators, Glen Whalen

no report

  1. Update by Vice-chair, Winnie Thomas

Winnie recounted Ann Johnson’s experience with talking about the Energy Trust Pilot Project. Ann asked Terrace residents, “if we could expand the effort campus-wide, how many would want an aerator installed? …CFL bulbs?” Every hand went up.

Winnie expressed her goal of making sure that the Green Team does not focus solely on recycling, but also keeps track of resource use, grounds, and any other way in which we can contribute to sustainable practices. In keeping with this, she shared some graphics that Jerry Schnider had downloaded. They depict the multiple aspects of sustainability, and might be useful for Green Team graphics.

New Business

  1. Willamette View Web Page: Winnie Thomas asked Jerry about progress on the WV web page and why it is running into so much difficulty getting off the ground. Jerry responded that the programming work is complicated, and the web page is just a very complex product. There are disagreements as to how it will present itself, how it will deal with security issues, how much control will be exerted on what goes onto the website, and how much will be left unfiltered.

A company has been hired to work on the web site and to project an updated WV image to the community. Marketing is not involved at this time.

Sam Narayan noted that there is LOTS of information that WV is legally prohibited from making public, such as transitions of a resident to higher levels of care.

  1. Coordinating with Carousel: Winnie suggested that we ask Pat Weimken, manager of the Carousel, to come to a Green Team meeting and share her thoughts and experiences. Winnie read a memo from Pat describing some specifics of how the work of the Carousel parallels that of the Green Team.

The Carousel discards almost nothing. Last year, after selecting items to sell in the Carousel, 750 pounds of clothing was donated to local charities; household items were taken to Annie Ross House for displaced women and children in Clackamas County, ARC received nick-nacks, yardage went to the women’s prison, and rags get saved for WV housekeeping staff.

  1. Shredding and security. What constitutes threatening material? How do we dispose of it? The bin in Susan Amick’s office is for staff use.

Bunny said that she understands a bin can be had for $5/month, as there currently is no resident shredding bin.

Pat Canan suggested that on pages that contain only a name and/or number, these can be cut out with scissors, and the remainder of the document be recycled without risk.

  1. Used building supplies. See Glen Whalen’s comments at beginning of meeting.

  2. River Cleanup Day. Paul Norseth announced this opportunity for community service on Saturday, Oct 13, 10:00 - noon, at the end of Courtney Avenue. Julie Fereira is asking if the Green Team would like to participate. Paul intends to drive there, and offered to take others who will fit in his car. It was decided that the event was too soon to attempt any campus-wide publicity.

Meeting adjourned – 10:45 a.m., for the second time in a row!

Respectfully submitted,

Pat Canan, Secretary

Last updated: October 20, 2012        GT-home     WV home