Vermillion Recycling Group Meeting- 10-1-09

Today was our first meeting with Phyllis P. and we met with her at the Vermillion Recycling Center. We began the meeting with telling her about what we were there to accomplish, which is to help the recycling center with any service they need. Phyllis told us that the recycling center does not have a web site of their own; there is one through the city but it is often slow to be updated and it is not very helpful to the city of Vermillion. She stressed that she would like our group to produce a web site that is easy to navigate and can be updated without difficulty. Also, she talked about maybe creating a video to promote the materials that the city of Vermillion accepts at the recycling center. From conversing with Phyllis we learned a great deal about how the public is unaware of what can actually be recycled at the center. Glass, and any type of cardboard that is pressed and not corrugated are not accepted. We also learned about the types of plastics that the city is able to recycle. These are plastic #1 and #2. Plastics #3 through #7 are not accepted because they are hard to recycle and the center does not make very much money off of them. Lids on bottled water and other containers are also non-recyclable here. Paper that is dark colored is also non-recyclable. Phyllis taught us that if you tear the paper and if the tear line is white the paper is recyclable. We decided that highlighting on those recycling tips for knowing what can and cannot be recycling would be great to put on the web site to better inform the public. Phyllis and our group decided that we would meet again next Thursday to discuss our plan of action and get the ball rolling with our project.

Before arriving at the Vermillion Recycling Center I was unsure about what to expect because I have never been there. As I walked in to the recycling center, my nose quickly became aware of the strong smell of a soiled litter box. I then saw a very large feline, the biggest I have ever seen, and put two and two together. The chairs that we sat on for our meeting were covered in cat hair which made me very anxious because I am allergic to cats, but I was not going to let it distract me from what I came there to do. Phyllis did mention to us that her two large cats, Thing One and Thing Two, were there to serve a purpose, which is to kill the numerous mice that run around the place. I am not quite sure I would be able to work in this building, but I am grateful for those that do. I felt uneasy about what we would actually be accomplishing at this meeting because I felt guilty for not knowing a whole lot about recycling and I did not want to offend Phyllis, but she calmed my fears and was a great teacher. She stressed greatly how the public needs to be informed about what can and cannot be recycled because the recycling center is constantly getting phone calls about it. I asked for a pamphlet, which I am thankful for, in hopes that it would give us a basis to build the web site off of and I think it will help us a lot. I am now looking forward to working with Phyllis and helping out the recycling center. I feel like they have a lot of needs and I am willing to help them with my best efforts. I think our final product will be very rewarding and I will learn a lot from this experience.

From what we have talked about in class I have been nervous up to this point because I was unsure about how we were actually going to help the recycling center, but things are starting to make sense to me now. I definitely do see the importance of volunteering after visiting the recycling center and talking with Phyllis. The recycling center has many unmet needs and wants to promote their brand and make the public aware, but they need some help in doing so. As “volunteers” we are able to help the recycling center and come up with new ideas in hopes to get some positive feedback from the public. We want to make the public more aware of the positive effects of recycling and how they can participate.