Keeping Our Oceans Clean

Last week I got the opportunity to visit one of South Orange County Wastewater Authority treatment plants located in Laguna Niguel, CA.  I must say that I knew nothing about how wastewater was managed or treated, so the whole tour to me was very interesting and informative.  Plus, the tour was guided by a gentleman nameed Mr. Waters; how cool is that?
This one particular plant is a conventional activated sludge treatment facility with the capability of handing 12 MGD of liquid and an equivalent of 24.6 MGD of solid waste.  Mr. Waters walked us through the the basic processes of wastewater treatment.  The first step is the preliminary treatment, which involves removing debris, larger matter, and grit.  Next, the wastewater flows into the primary sedimentation tanks, where heavier matter settles and floatable matter rises to the top.  After the matter is separated, the wastewater is sent to aeration basins where the organic pollutants in the wastewater are broken down by microorganisms into carbon dioxide, water and energy.  The remaining microorganisms are then diverted to secondary sedimentation tanks and after sedimentation  the secondary effluent moves to the ocean outfalls. A portion of this secondary effluent goes through additional filtering (tertiary treatment)  to become "reclaimed" which can be used for irrigation and other industrial processes. All settled solids are pumped to heated digesters where they are
 broken down and converted into gas by-product of carbon dioxide, methane, and a more manageable solid matter.  The remaining solids are held in detention for a certain time, then they are dewatered and known as biosolids.  These biosolids are then shipped to a landfill or used as compost material.
Mr. Waters also, stressed SOCWA's commitment to stay on top of wastewater regulations and technology to ensure that the quality of our wastewater going to the ocean is environmentally sound. 
As I said above, the tour was very informative. You can find a detail chart of the processes on SOCWA's website http://www.socwa.com/Programs/Programs.aspx.

Is Your Bottle Floating

Today I was surfing the net reading articles on pollution when I ran across the

5 Gyres Institute.  Their mission is to “conduct research and communicate about the global impact of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans and employ strategies to eliminate the accumulation of plastic pollution in the 5 subtropical gyres”.

To understand and study the impact of plastic pollution this organization has actually sailed through the 5 subtropical gyres.  They take examples of the ocean’s surface to quantity the mass, size, color and type of plastic floating inside the gyres.  Marine life is also collected for analysis.

Through their expeditions they have determined that: plastic pollution accumulates in oceanic gyres, plastic pollution dominates marine debris; plastic degrades at sea; plastic absorbs and releases chemicals, animals eat or get tangled in plastic pollution.

In May 2012 they will be doing a research voyage through the North Pacific

ocean to an area called the “Western Garbage Patch” and they have open crew

space still available.  The cost is $25,000 per person and all requirements must

be met in order to be accepted.  To learn more about the 5 Gyres Institute and

this expedition visit their website at: http://5gyres.org/get_involved/expeditions.

Below is a picture of  JUNKraft.  This raft traveled over 2,600 miles across the North Pacific

Gyre from California to Hawaii floating on 15,000 plastic bottles.

Touring Tierra Verde Industries

My tour of Tierra Verde Industries last week was awesome! TVI is a family owned green waste composting, c&d, and e-waste recovery/recycling company. Their facility employes over 130 people and houses the largest e-waste center in California. Operations Manager Darren Ross spent a lot of time showing off the amazing things they are doing in the world of "recycling". TVI sits on 90 acers of leased land that snuggles the Great Park in Irvine, CA. (Former location of the El Toro Marine Base). The facility receives 600 to 700 tons of green waste daily. The green waste (organic matter and biodegradable waste) is piled into long windrows where the waste cooks at temputures of 150 to 160 degrees. It takes approximately 100 days to complete a composting cycle. Once completed the material in siftted to recover the prime nuterient rich soil and different qualities/size of mulch. It was an interesting process to see, but it is easily over shadowed by their e-waste facility. TVI intakes approximately 200 tons of e-waste per day. The material is disassembled into 20 differents commodities. They own a machain that recovers copper from what are called "yokes" (a television part), it is 1 of only 7 operating in the US. I had no idea how much recoverable material was in a basic laptop, especally the "raw earth natural magnet mineral" found in some some. Currently, TVI has been unable to recover this magnet and would be glad to hear any suggestions you may have. TVI has a great recovery rate of about 80%, leaving only 20% being sent to landfills.

Leadership Lessons

When I was first offered a Director's position with a company that I had worked at for several years my first thought was "how are my co-workers going to accept my promotion?" Well, I did not have to wonder long, right after the announcement was made my co-worker's who were once my "co-working friends" quickly became defiant and unwilling to work as a team. Each of them feeling like the position should have been "theirs". Not knowing what to do, I immediately reached out to my boss for advice. As I sat concerned and unsure of my own leadership skills my boss looked at me and said "It is lonely at the top Tina and as of today you are their leader and they will either fall in-line or be led out the door". Immediately I knew leading people out the door would not be a productive option, so I started with a meeting where I assured my co-workers (now staff) that each of them were valued key contributors to the company and that my goal was to provide support and guidance to each of them. No one bought in....the whole team just looked at me with blank stares. I knew then that being a leader was not something that someone appoints you to be, being a leader is hard, and it takes constant awareness of the needs of the individuals on the team and how they can support the visions and goals of a department...it is a delicate balance.
Over the next few months I practiced many of Mr. Carnegie's leadership principles. I continued to praise and show appreciation for my staff, I shared my mistakes with them when needed, I encouraged them when things were going wrong...... I worked and stood beside them - not on top of them.  Although, I gradually gained my staffs respect and support as their new leader, it was not an easy task!

Jestons Gas-n-Go

While surfing the net the other day I ran across the most eco-friendly buildings in the US.  The Helios House Gas Station in LA was the "cooooolest".  It looks like a building that George Jetson would jet into 30 years ago on the hit futuristic animated cartoon series "The Jetsons".  This green designed gas station is considered to be the "station of the future".  The station's roof is made of cradle to cradle recyclable stainless steel, which reduces the energy consumption of the station by 16%.  Grass is planted on the roof to reduce the need for mechanical cooling and heating and an attached canopy collects rainwater which is used for on-site irrigation.  The bathroom sinks are made out of recycled aluminum shavings and the floor tiles are made from recycled glass.  The concrete paving has recycled glass imbedded in it, which helps reflect sunlight to keep it cooler.  The station has been called an "edustation" conceived as a "learning lab" to stimulate education on environmental stewardship.  Even the outside signage is made from recyclable material.



The station won LEEDs (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) award for the most bizarre environmentally friendly building.

What's In the Plastic

In Chapter 4 of C2C they discuss our throwaway society claiming that many materials are "Monstrous Hybrids" and define them as being "mixtures of materials both technical and biological, neither of which can be salvage after their current lives".  These "hybrids" such as leather shoes contains lead and plastics such as chromium which makes it difficult to recycled with other products.  The authors expressed the need for manufacturers to design upcycling (converting low-value materials into high-value products) into their process not just waste. They claim that this approach would allow people to enjoy new products as often as they would like.   The chapter also discusses: the framework in which we exists: mass and energy, biological metabolism and technical metabolism.  And, again the authors express the importance of not pointing the finger of blame.  It's time to FIX THE PROBLEM.  I look forward to reading the rest of the chapter.
                                                                                                                            

They Are Walking The Walk

The other day I got the opportunity to visit Republic Services CVT Regional MRF in Anaheim, CA and I must say that I was extremely impressed with their operation.  As an industrial leader in recycling services the company has two primary goals; one is to keep reusable materials out of the landfills, the second is to return them to a useful purpose.
Republic has been recycling for more than 50 years and was the first company to established a residential collection program of solid and co-mingled waste in California.  Their state-of-the-art technology allows them to reduce the amount of waste that is going to landfills by removing recyclables. Their newest investment is a 15m dollar conveyor belt that sorts (source separates) different plastics, paper, and metals. Once sorted these materials are baled, placed on a truck, and shipped mainly to China where they are processed back into a reusable product.
The MRF is massive in size and can process up to 6,000 tons per day.  It is open to the public and offers a variety of services. Two of the services they offer is environmental consulting and turn-key waste equipment. These services provides companies with specialists and equipment that will help them design recycling programs that are profitable and environmentally sound.
One of the things that impressed me was the way they recognized and awarded their committed employees.  Another thing was many of their trucks burn LNG and CNG fuel to help minimize their own environmental footprint.
After the tour, it was clear to see that Republic is facing the "need to go green" head-on and the supportive services they offer can help educated companies on how to do it effectively.