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| Small steps, big results |
| By Sarah Etter, News Reporter |
| Published: 01/29/2007 |
The daily operations of a state corrections department are overwhelming. Wardens have compared managing a facility to that of running a small city where thousands need to be fed and clothed, while security must be maintained at all times.
And just like a small city, corrections has plenty of trash to dispose of at the end of the day. Thanks to two new grants from the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality, the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services is stepping up new efforts to improve the recycling of facility waste. With the new grants, the NEDOCS hopes to turn their trash into environment-friendly treasure. “We are taking a bunch of little steps to make a big difference,” says Patricia Sattler, NEDOC grants administrator who penned the proposal requests. “We want to be good environmental stewards and conserve resources.” One $8,000 grant will be used to purchase a cardboard baler for Cornhusker State Industries, the NEDOCS inmate work program, and provide funding for a compost pile. The other grant, for $10,000, will improve recycling capabilities at an administrative level by providing recycling bins, trucks and special dumpsters for non-confidential mixed officer paper. “These are really simple plans to implement and it is a great opportunity to model behavior for our inmates. If we can teach them the value of recycling properly, they can take that home with them and make a difference in their community,” says Sattler. “Ultimately, these are just common sense programs that are good for the environment.” Inmates get hands-on experience with recycling at CSI, where they are responsible for baling cardboard and shipping it off to recycling plants. According to CSI assistant administrator Steve Neff, a partnership between the novelty company Oriental Trading Company, makes the cardboard recycling program especially necessary. Inmates assemble and repackage OTC's products and ship them out to consumers. The partnership is beneficial for both corrections and the trading company, but it creates thousands of pounds of corrugated cardboard that must be disposed of. “These materials fill up so many trucks. With the cardboard baler, we can compact the cardboard and transport the cardboard to the recycling plant instead of the landfill. This is just a commonsense way to deal with waste,” says Neff. Before the cardboard baler, CSI had to make four weekly trips to the landfill to throw away the cardboard. Now, it has to make two trips per week and the cardboard goes to a much more enviro-friendly location. Offenders are also maintaining a compost pile. Inmates find scraps and add them to a compost pile that will create fertilizer for facility grounds. “We will use this fertilizer on our shrubs and flowers, as well as for our gardening program,” says Sattler. “That is saving the department a lot of money on fertilizer, which is terrific!” At the administrative level, the new recycling containers will provide a chance for paper goods to be reused in an eco-conscious way. “We are a perfect example of starting small at one department and then moving out to other facilities and levels of administration,” Sattler says. “Any state can do something like this. It's definitely a worthwhile endeavor and we're proud of it.” For agencies interested in becoming more environmentally responsible, Sattler recommends checking out state environmental protection agencies that might offer funding similar to what Nebraska was awarded. If every corrections agency makes a small adjustment, the environment might just see some big results. Related resources: Cogenerate to rehabilitate, 11/13 Cornhusker State Industries EarthTrends Environmental Information U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Grants and Fellowship Information |
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