From the February 24, 2006 Issue of The Cape Codder

Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School News

Recycling

By Nathan Scalise

Recently, students from Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School visited the Orleans transfer station to observe recycling methods. The seminar looks into how to improve the school's recycling system and the benefits of recycling.

Students learned about how some items such as televisions and fluorescent lights contain mercury. Mercury is a toxic chemical that affects the brain, so it must be recycled in certain ways to prevent contamination.

The Orleans transfer station also accepts paint. Most of the paint cans aren't empty, so they're reused. Batteries are also hazardous, with nickel cadmium batteries being most dangerous because cadmium can be toxic. The 15 students also put one plastic item each into the number corresponding to the number on the bottom of the plastic object. When asked about his favorite part of the trip, sixth-grader Roma Naumov, referring to the buildings containing recycled paint cans and batteries, said, "I really liked it when he showed us the recycling houses, they were really neat."

One of the most popular parts of the trip was watching a garbage compacter in action. The compactor pushed trash into a steel wall with 100,000 pounds of pressure, breaking the garbage into tiny pieces. Afterward, the students were brought to an area atop a cement wall overlooking piles of wood chips and compost. The students then got to ask Rick McKean, their guide, questions. One fact they discovered was that if you throw out a propane tank with propane in it you might cause a large explosion at the incinerator.

Perhaps the funniest part of the trip was hearing about the time a load of garbage was sent back due to radiation detectors at the incinerator detecting a radioactive substance. When the load returned, a company with radiation detectors was hired to sift through the load. What they found was a tissue. Workers at the transfer station think that it was a tissue used by someone on chemotherapy!

Nathan Scalise is a sixth-grade student at Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School in Orleans.