The Metropolitan Environmental Trust The MET Celebrates Earth Day Each year, when people start thinking about spring cleaning, the MET is thinking about spring greening and planning Tulsa’s official Earth Day party, Enviro Expo. For Earth Day, Main Street in is closed off to cars, filled with tents and environmental organizations and fun giveaways, and live music echoes between the city’s historic skyscrapers.

This year’s party brought more than 3,000 people out of their offices to learn more about being green and to celebrate planet Earth. Many of Tulsa’s environmental organizations were on hand to answer people’s questions about environmental topics.

The MET couldn’t put the event on without the generous support Dates Set for Fall Collection of Tulsa’s business community. Their sponsorships make the event possible, and we would like to thank them for their many years of Twice a year, the MET partners with its member communities continued support! This year’s sponsors include: AEP-PSO, AbiBow, to collect household hazardous waste at the Tulsa State LaFarge Tulsa Cement Plant, Covanta Energy, Harley Hollan, Fairgrounds. The event, one of the largest in the nation, Greenstar Recycling and Mod’s Coffee & Crepes. gets dangerous chemicals, cleaners, medications and other items out of our homes and away from our creeks, helping to That same week, the MET also held Green Night at the Tulsa protect our families and the environment at the same time. Drillers! The Drillers wore green uniforms, recycling games for kids were played on the field, and all the music was green-themed. There The upcoming fall collection will take place November 5 & were also booths set up near the entrances, much like Enviro Expo. 6, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Gate 7 (15th & Sandusky) of Lots of families learned the benefits of going green that night! the Tulsa State Fairgrounds.

Residents of Tulsa County, Pollutant Collection: Claremore, Coweta and Broken Arrow (any MET November 5 & 6 community) can bring a 10 a.m.-3 p.m. variety of items to the event, 15th & Sandusky including old medications, Tulsa State Fairgrounds pesticides, pool chemicals, fluorescent light bulbs and More details: metrecycle.com. automobile fluids, among Click on Hazardous Waste. MCoffeeod’s & Crepes other items.

Oil-based paint may be brought to the event, but latex paint is not accepted, so the MET encourages everyone to check what kind of paint they have before they load up their vehicles. Latex paint is not harmful and can be collected with regular trash as long as it is completely dried out and the lid is removed to show it is dry.

Some items accepted at the event, including batteries, motor oil and anti-freeze, are collected all year long at each MET recycling center. If you have these items, don’t wait for the event, recycle them today! Residents don’t need to wait for the event to dispose of compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), either. Lowe’s and Home Depot have small recycling centers set up in their stores near the customer service desk.

For a full list of accepted materials, visit metrecycle.com and click on Hazardous Waste or call 918.584.0584. We know digging for recyclables isn’t for everyone. That is why we have many types of volunteer opportunities, from events and litter clean-ups to working at our semi-annual Fairgrounds WANTED: Pollutant Collection. That event takes over 140 volunteers, Volunteers plus City of Tulsa employees and hazardous waste contractors. Our volunteers represent all facets of the community, from high school and college Reward students to school groups, Boy Scouts, corporate teams, offered retirees, families, and people just interested in becoming greener. People can sign up to volunteer individually, or they can sign up their group or corporation to help with larger projects.

“Volunteers really do make everything possible,” says Shelley Umezawa. “We have a fantastic and enthusiastic core group of volunteers right now, and would like to expand it to even more groups in our community.” Umezawa, a self-described recycling crusader, spends much of her own free time helping local events recycle and getting volunteers there. Every year, the MET recycles at more than 50 area events. From the Route 66 Marathon and the Bixby Barbeque Festival to Summer’s She adds, “We can’t offer fame, but we can offer refreshments, Fifth Night at and Tulsa State Fair, many events in gloves, a t-shirt and a very rewarding experience.” To volunteer the community have come to count on the MET and its volunteers with the MET, contact Shelley Umezawa at to help their recycling efforts. [email protected] or by calling 918.584.0584.

That translates into hundreds of hours a year and takes a lot of volunteers. We’d like YOU to become part of that group! You don’t have to volunteer a hundred hours to make a difference. MET Welcomes New Volunteering for just a few hours a couple times a year can help us keep green. It’s also rewarding, but don’t just take Board Members it from us. John Beasley, one of our volunteers, puts it this way: “Each plastic bottle and aluminum can that I help recycle and There will be two new faces on the MET’s Board of Trustees keep out of Tulsa’s waste stream is a personal victory for me.” That beginning in July. Charles Hardt, the representative for the City personal victory is shared with the community, which benefits from of Tulsa, is being replaced by Brett Fidler, the City’s Director of less waste, more recycling and a cleaner environment. Sustainability. Lee Zirk, Broken Arrow’s representative, is being replaced by Craig Thurmond, Vice-Mayor of Broken Arrow. Some volunteers go beyond picking up recyclables they see on the ground. Take Lauren Radcliffe, who will dig through trash cans to Hardt is retiring from the City after pull out bottles and cans: “It can get a little messy, but I know serving on the MET’s board for over I’m doing a good thing. If I see something that’s recyclable in the 2 decades. Hardt joined the Board trash and I can get to it, in July, 1990. In that time, he has I’m going to pull it out. seen the creation of the first MET I’d feel guilty if I didn’t!” recycling center and the Fairgrounds Pollutant Collection. Shelley Umezawa, volunteer and outreach In 1992, he received a national coordinator for the MET, FEMA award for outstanding adds, “While it does get service for the City’s flood control Charles Hardt messy, that simple act of achievements. In 1993, he was pulling recyclables out of named one of the Top Ten Public Works Leaders in the US the trash can and placing by the American Public Works Association, and was inducted it into the recycling into State University’s College of Engineering, containers really opens people’s eyes around you, and makes Architecture and Technology Hall of Fame in 1995. them think twice before throwing their water bottle away.” Continued, page 3... 2 New Board Members (continued from page 2) Spring Pollutant Recap

Lee Zirk joined the Board in July, On April 2 and 3, the MET hosted its 39th pollutant collection 2009 and was named Chairman at the Tulsa State Fairgrounds. With a baseball tournament and of the Management Committee in a gun show also at Expo Square, it made space tight and traffic 2010. He has been instrumental in interesting, but it didn’t slow the public from bringing us all their ensuring Broken Arrow’s commitment household hazardous waste. Here’s a quick breakdown of the most to recycling and becoming more common items we received: environmentally friendly. Oil-based Paint - 15,193 lbs. The staff and rest of the Board would Lee Zirk Motor Oil - 11,200 lbs. (1,600 gal.) like to thank these two fine gentlemen Flammables - 11,083 lbs. for their years of service, and wishes them luck in their future Pesticides/Poisons - 6,534 lbs. endeavors. Batteries - 6,237 lbs. Other Hazardous Waste - 5,983 lbs. Aerosols - 3,659 lbs. Brett Fidler has been named Hardt’s Antifreeze - 2,100 lbs. (300 gal.) replacement. Fidler became the Director of Corrosives - 1,369 lbs. Sustainability for the City of Tulsa in 2010, Medication - 1,362 lbs. overseeing the development of a sustainability Oxidizers - 744 lbs. plan for the City of Tulsa, administering federal Mercury - 625 lbs. grants to improve energy efficiency at city facilities, and facilitating energy-saving and Brett Fidler alternative energy projects throughout Tulsa. Tree Giveaways a Hit Fidler had been serving since November 2008 as the Mayor’s Special Advisor on Sustainability, appointed by On April 13, downtown then-Mayor Kathy Taylor. workers in were invited to spend lunch on Craig Thurmond will be the new board Samson Plaza to pick member from Broken Arrow. Thurmond, out free trees from the the vice-mayor of Broken Arrow, serves on MET, the Oklahoma the board of Tulsa County Conservation Forestry Department District, Tulsa Home Builder’s Association and Up With Trees. In and Tulsa Area Conservation Foundation, just a few hours, MET and is president of the Concerned Citizens employees handed for Broken Arrow Foundation. out nearly 400 trees, including oaks, pine, pecan, walnut and hackberry varieties. Up With Trees also gave away trees at Enviro Expo and the Tulsa Drillers We are very excited to welcome both men Craig Thurmond to the Board of Trustees! Green Night sponsored by the MET.

It’s important during the extreme heat of the summer months to keep all young plants and trees watered very well. When the trees PSO Promotes Efficiency are as small as these, it is best to grow them in buckets until they’re large enough to transplant. It also makes it easier to protect them Early this year, AEP-PSO, City of Tulsa and the MET partnered from freezes. Keep these baby trees watered and in a couple years, to develop a pilot program aimed at reducing energy use in you’ll have beautiful trees ready to be transplanted. homes. The goal is to reduce the number of ‘extra refrigerators’ often found in garages, which are typically more than 15 years old and take more than four times the energy to operate as a new refrigerator. Connect With us Online

According to PSO, consumers can save $100 or more a year We love getting recycling questions and having engaging by ditching their extra fridge that they only use around the conversations, and the easiest place to do that is online! In addition holidays. The City will haul away the refrigerators for free as to helpful tips and recycling news, we often have trivia questions part of the bulky waste program, and PSO will pay the first 800 and quotes of the day on our Facebook and Twitter. We’d love for you participants $25 for their working refrigerators. The freon will to join us online! Just visit facebook.com/tulsamet and click ‘like’, then be removed and the remaining materials will be recycled. or follow us on Twitter at @MetRecycle.

It’s easy to participate, but you must live in Tulsa. Just call Our online newsletter brings all this and more to your inbox! To sign 918.596.9777 to set up a pick-up time, and in a few weeks, up, visit our website, metrecycle.com. you’ll receive a check in the mail. Remember, the refrigerator must be working when it is picked up in order to get the cash. If it doesn’t work, the City will still pick it up for free. facebook.com/tulsamet @MetRecycle 3