STXRA
The St. Croix (STX) Recycling Association (RA) had it’s monthly meeting last night. I like STXRA because the meetings start on time and go for one hour. There is a strictly adhered to agenda at each session, with time at the end for questions and discussions.
I think they had the first meeting in February of 2007, and many, many people were in attendance (I’ve heard there were around 70). Now, there are usually 6-12. We’ve gone to a half dozen or so, and they’re very informative. I really admire the energy of the core group members and their willingness to stick with this thing despite the fact that so few others are getting involved.
It might be just one of those things where people who’ve been here don’t believe it’s going to amount to anything. Like there will be a lot of talk and no action, or they’ll put a lot of energy into it, just to see it fizzle like so many other attempts at making things work better around here.
But these guys are serious. They’ve really accomplished quite a bit. They have a logo, they’ve been in contact with government agencies, many of which have had representatives come to meetings. They are part of the Resource Conservation and Development Agency, and now have non-profit status, and they continue to recruit new members. Members don’t have to come to meetings, but it would be nice if they could get involved in other ways. There is a list of projects a mile long, that they keep plugging along at, and things are getting done. There is a glass crushing machine on St. John, which needs to move around from island to island to crush glass. They are working on a way to make that happen. The issue of used tires being cut up and taken off island has been addressed by tire sellers and they are working on getting that problem solved as well.
They have been supportive of Victor at EZ Recycling, who takes aluminum cans and is expanding to recycle other metals. And they are excited about our project. We will continue to do what we can with what little time we have and attend meetings and spread the good word.
We on St. Croix, have an opportunity to become a shining example of recycling, proper waste disposal, and sustainable land and water use. Join the STXRA today….it’s only $30 
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June 4th, 2008 at 11:24 am
This is so great…we will send money today. We have been packing our suitcases with plastic and glass when we go back stateside, as I am not aware of any place on the island to recycle them.
June 4th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Well, plastic will still be a problem unless someone starts a company here to take care of that
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Soda cans can be brought to EZ recycling, and Victor can be encouraged perhaps, to start looking into other types of cans. Or, someone else can start collecting them for recycling
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It’s a start. But there’s so much more that needs to be done. We just need folks with extra time and/or dollars to help keep the ball rolling
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June 4th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
Used tires can and are being recycled as road pavement here in Montana, perfect irony there. I don’t know much about the equipment needed to do it, but that would sure help the pot hole problem on the island.
June 9th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
I don’t know what St John does with the crushed glass, but in Sun Valley Idaho, ‘recycled’ glass is actually crushed and used as part of road bed (or something like that), which apparently is much cheaper and cleaner than actually recycling (reprocessing) it. combine that with the shredded tires and STX could have some of the best roads availabe.
June 10th, 2008 at 9:49 am
It would be ideal if both tires and glass could be made into roads, and I believe in the past the glass had been used in the roads, but people complained that their tires wore out too fast.
Yes, we used to have a glass crusher here. I used to take my bottles to La Reine every week. And somehow, the people who ran it could not afford to continue. Maybe the paving company or the government wouldn’t help? I don’t know. The tire situation could be solved, too, but more red tape or other complications have led the guy who has a tire shredder to not be able to use it anymore.