Orcas Recycle Services’ proposal best provides for Plan B | Letter
Published 3:39 pm Monday, July 23, 2012
I am a long-time Orcas Island resident who wants to see local control of our solid waste facility. I wholly support Orcas Recycle Service’s proposal for managing Orcas Transfer Station. ORS recognizes that we already have local expertise, and wants to keep the existing crew, who have served this community well for years and deserve a living wage.
Separating recyclables will save considerable expense. The savings can be put toward implementation of up-cycling and offering recycled products such as compost, which will grow a local ecomony of recycled goods. Local control is what the citizens who voted for plan B wanted. I was unsure: I voted for plan A, because I didn’t see how we could succeed in plan B with nothing in place. But now that we have plan B, people committed to our goal of reducing the waste stream are stepping up.
We are tired of hearing “it can’t be done,” in terms of innovative approaches. The only thing that “can’t be done” is to continue the same unsustainable, destructive ways we’ve been going for far too long. R. Buckminster Fuller said, “You never change things by fighting existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
We have an opportunity to build a new and kinder model – for ourselves, for our children, and for the planet. It will take a lot from the community: donations, visioning, volunteering, expertise, and patience. I have complete confidence that ORS and our citizens’ collective creativity and resourcefulness can grow a viable solid waste and recycling plan.
The Vendor Selection Committee report may seem to make Cimarron’s proposal points look more polished and professional, but how will Cimarron guarantee price stability while still reducing waste? It won’t. Please tell the council to vote for ORS’s proposal, or at least give them the same opportunity to correct some shortfalls as Cimarron. Council could vote as early as tomorrow! The VSC report is available here. The proposals are found on this page.
Sadie Bailey
Eastsound
