The Rapid City Sustainability Committee is hosting a two-day conference and exposition at the Dahl Arts Center, Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.
City Councilman Jerry Wright gave a presentation Friday. As now-retired manager of the city's solid waste division, he has long been an advocate of recycling.
Wright says reusing materials reduces the amount of energy it takes to manufacture from scratch. He says that reduction results in real profit.
"It is absolutely there, simply because you're not taking it from a raw ore to where it's a metal. I mean, it's already the metal. You're just re-smelting and melting it down to re-fabricate," he says. "Other items we don't take into consideration from the energy standpoint would be like plastics, which are, you know, made of petrochemicals... oil or natural gas. That's pure energy, and yet we bury them. It's tragic."
Wright says recycling is not mandatory in Rapid City. As a result, businesses and large apartment complexes don't have city pickup service as private homes do. But he says anyone who doesn't have service can still take recyclables to drop-off sites at no cost.
To hear a Dakota Digest from April 22, 2010, about Jerry Wright and Rapid City's sustainability efforts, click on this link:
http://www.sdpb.sd.gov/newsite/shows.aspx?MediaID=58211&Parmtype=RADIO&ParmAccessLevel=sdpb-all
