Orcasites overwhelmingly said reducing the amount of waste leaving the islands should be the top priority for county solid waste management at a Feb. 24 Solid Waste discussion workshop. They also expressed frustration about a system that has professed waste reduction as a goal for years, but in their view hasn’t made significant strides in that direction. Meanwhile, the county council is planning a parcel fee or levy measure proposal to pay for already existing services and put the solid waste department in the black.

“Aggressive waste reduction is in the plan, we’ve just never followed it [because of a lack of funding],” said Orcas Island Exchange founder George Post. “The system failed because it never had any solid infrastructure… The real issue is: are we ever going to be willing to pay?

Solid Waste Planner Elizabeth Anderson is working on a draft plan to fulfill the Growth Management Act’s requirement of a Solid Waste plan, but it’s only the county council that has authority to actually implement citizen suggestions.

Attendees suggested purchasing a glass crusher and a wood chipper and selling the products, and making home composters available to residents at cost.

“How much can we safely keep and use as an asset instead of a liability?” asked Post.

Solid Waste Planner Elizabeth Anderson, who led the discussion, did not have figures on the makeup of trash leaving San Juan County but said that one-third of statewide trash is compostable “green waste.” Dan Borman suggested addressing that portion first, offering to teach free composting classes and challenging others to do the same. High-tech composting or waste-to-energy conversion devices were also suggested, but Anderson said such devices would require both more funding and volume than the county generates.

Also in attendance was Recycling and Hazardous Waste Coordinator Helen Venada. The meeting proposed to “develop clearly stated goals and objectives for Solid Waste planning” and asked participants to pick their highest priorities from six written options.

Attendees ranked ‘paying for desired services’ second, suggesting a sales tax or increasing property taxes in lieu of a flat per-parcel fee. The solid waste department is now $1.3 million in the red and losing money every month.

Attendees were generally willing to pay a tax, but many wanted to know what the money would be used for first.

“If we start collecting fees, is it going to a long-term solution?” asked Marta Nielson.

Some wanted a property-value based fee; others added that renters should pay, too.

“The need for some outside source to pay for this is evident,” said county council member Richard Fralick. “It has gotten our attention; we are working very hard to resolve the issue.” Although the council was advised last year that a parcel fee would be illegal, he said it now appears that there may be a legal way to do it, and a $50-100 parcel fee had been discussed.

“The council so far has lacked the political will… we have never been willing to bring this up to a vote of the people,” said Bob Gamble.

Following the solid waste forum, the county council decided to put a measure before voters this November, offering either a parcel fee or a levy to pay for the current level of solid waste services. If the iniative is not approved, the transfer stations will be closed and household garbage will be picked up by a franchise hauler.

Post said at the solid waste forum that he opposes curbside pickup because it becomes too easy to throw recycle, compost and garbage all into one container, rather than practice waste reduction. He invited community members to join him in a citizen-led steering committee on the issue.

Discussed as a third priority was the ability to regularly drop hazardous materials at the transfer stations. Attendees said the current situation of grant-funded once-per-year pickup is “way inconvenient” and doesn’t encourage proper waste disposal.

Trailing behind on the priority list were improving service and safety at transfer stations; making information on the solid waste system easier to get; and keeping the system for collecting solid waste as it is now.

A theme that rose to the surface throughout the discussion was a need for education: teaching the community how to recycle, how to compost, how to reduce the waste stream – and even how to refuse excess packaging when purchasing goods.

Others suggested changing the transfer station fee schedule to encourage reduction, and even prohibiting the initial transport of waste to the island.