Earth Keeper Clean Sweep 2005

2005 EARTH KEEPER "CLEAN SWEEP" BAGS 45.7 TONS

By Greg Peterson

Officials say nearly 46 tons of poisons were collected this weekend by thousands of Northern Michigan residents who braved sub-freezing windchills to make the 2005 Earth Keeper Clean Sweep a huge success.

The congregations of over 125 Upper Peninsula (U.P.) churches/temples and the public participated in the collection of household hazardous waste (HHW). Clean Sweep is sponsored by nine faith communities, two environmental groups, the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, and Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm's office of Faith-Based Initiatives.

Earth Keeper organizers said the final count revealed that 91,400 thousand pounds - or 45.7 tons - was collected on Saturday as a salute to Earth Day 2005. This afternoon, the final count revealed that 25.5 tons were taken to the Delta County landfill hazardous waste facility and 20.2 tons were taken to the Marquette County landfill hazardous waste facility.

Seven 26-foot trucks were completely filled, and at least one of the trucks was unloaded on Saturday and reloaded Sunday as the Iron Mountain area collection exceeded all expectations. The trucks were weighed and unloaded Monday and Tuesday at the Marquette and Delta county landfill's hazardous waste facility.

The nine faith communities involved were Christian (Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Methodist Church), Baha'i, Jewish (Temple Beth Sholom), Unitarian Universalist (U.U.), and Zen Buddhist. The event was organized by the Central Lake Superior Watershed Partnership, and the Cedar Tree Institute. The massive project is funded by part of a $15,000 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Environmental Justice Grant.

'We are fortunate here in Marquette County because we have an excellent Household Hazardous Waste Program but most people across the Upper Peninsula do not have any options for properly disposing of these dangerous pollutants," said Carl Lindquist, executive director of the Central Lake Superior Watershed Partnership. "Thanks to the Earth Keeper program literally tons of chemicals will no longer pose a threat to our drinking water and the Great Lakes." "It's amazing! This project kept over 45 tons of poisons from contaminating our groundwater, our rivers and our Great Lakes - and it was done mostly with volunteer labor," Lindquist said.

Northern Michigan's Catholic Bishop James Garland, who supervises 97 U.P. parishes and missions with 68,400 members, said he wants to thank all those involved for making the event a huge success. "The response to the Earth Keeper's Clean Sweep demonstrates how sensitive the residents of the Upper Peninsula are to the importance of a healthful, clean environment," said Bishop Garland, Roman Catholic Diocese of Marquette. "Now many homes and garages are free of toxic substances that could have polluted our air and waters."

The U.P. Evangelical Lutheran Bishop, who oversees 91 U.P. Lutheran churches with 40,420 members, praised the work done by Lutheran volunteers and those who dropped off tons of HHW saying the effort was "the work of the Spirit."

"This was a job that needed to be done and the faith community did it," said Bishop Thomas Skrenes, leader of the Northern Greats Lakes Synod . "There were dozens of people who saw the need and made it happen!"

"I'm so pleased to be able to get rid of the old paint that has been in the basement of our house since we bought it 40 years ago," said Earth Keeper member Gail Griffith, a member of the Unitarian Universalist church. "Way to go, Earth Keepers!"

Marquette County Chief Circuit Court Judge Thomas Solka rendered a verdict on the event as he dropped off oil-based paint, stainer, and anti-freeze at the Grace United Methodist Church in Marquette, one of 24 U.P. collection sites. "This is a good example of how faith can help our world and the environment," Judge Solka said. "Thank you all for participating." A member of the First United Methodist Church in Marquette, Judge Solka declared the weather was "nasty" as volunteers endured stiff north winds gusting to 30 miles per hour, temperatures in the 20s, snow flurries and a windchill of 14 degrees.

Organizers say with this year's success, they hope to make Clean Sweep an annual salute to Earth Day. "This faith-based initiative is a sign of the power of the spiritual community when we work together to redeem and protect the environment," said project co-director Rev. Jon Magnuson, a Lutheran pastor and director of the Cedar Tree Institute. Earth Keeper officials asked the public to turn in the "serious seven" household hazardous waste (HHW) items - herbicides, pesticides, car batteries, items containing mercury drain cleaners, anti-freeze, and old lead and oil-based paints. "It was amazing to see what some of us have in our basements and garages - the UP feels like a cleaner, safer place today," said project co-director Rev. Charlie West, a UMC pastor.

Six-year-old Grace Feliz of Marquette proudly carried HHW items to turn in at the First Presbyterian Church in Marquette, accompanied by her mother, Tracy. "Those are batteries," chirped the Cherry Creek elementary School kindergarten student. Feliz said earlier she was home coloring labels for a recycling program at school. "I learned we could have bottles and cans and we could recycle them," said Feliz, who attends the First United Methodist Church in Marquette.

Only one minor problem was reported when a man who dropped off HHW at the Grace UMC in Marquette accidently ran over orange cones and a few paint containers while leaving. The paint was quickly cleaned up by volunteers although the usually black church parking lot now has a few remaining white spots resembling tie-dyed pants.

Ninety-year-old Lottie Clark of Marquette, and her daughter, Lois Clark-McGunegle of Colorado, turned in numerous HHW items including oil-based paints and pesticides belonging to Clark's late husband. "Some of this stuff has been sitting in the basement for twenty years," said Clark, a member of the Marquette First Presbyterian Church. "I have been waiting for this. I didn't want to put it out somewhere or dump it and have it contaminate everything." Clark was among dozens of U.P. widows that volunteers noticed dropping off HHW from their late husband's workshops or basement. "I was most touched by the number of older widows who brought an assortment of HHW left in garages and barns since their husbands died," said Joy Ibsen of Trout Creek, a retired teacher and Earth Keeper team member. "They were very grateful to be able to dispose of it properly." "What struck me today was how nice everyone was, even when we could not accept items they brought," said Ibsen, one of several volunteers at the Trinity Lutheran Church collection site in Trout Creek.

Deb Schaffer dropped off HHW from her parent's house in Marquette. "It was nice to come and bring a lot of things to one place," said Schaffer. "I was cleaning out my dad's garage, who died."

"Paint, paint, paint," said Catholic Bill Fortin, 80, of Marquette when asked what he was dropping off at the Grace UMC parking lot. "This (Clean Sweep) is very good and it will save a lot of stuff from going into the woods," said Fortin, a member of the St. Michael Catholic Church in Marquette. "I don't believe in dumping stuff in the woods. I like the woods, so much."

Organizers say one of the goals of Earth Keeper Clean Sweep 2005 was to prevent hazardous waste from being dumped in the woods, where it could seep into the ground and into pristine aquifers, and eventually make its way into the Great Lakes.

"Everything has been going good," said retired Northern Michigan University football coach Herb Grenke, a volunteer at the Messiah Lutheran Church collection site in Marquette. "We have been getting an equal amount of everything, but maybe mostly paint and herbicides."

"We've been waiting for it," said Patti Nicholson of Marquette, a member of the First UMC in Marquette.

Volunteer Francis O'Neil praised organizers - especially Carl Lindquist (CLSWP) - for providing numerous supplies including boxes, barrels and gloves to the collection sites. "Everything we could possibly have needed was provided," said O'Neil, Earth Keeper team member and Presbyterian from Gwinn. "They did a wonderful job. None of us could have imagined that it would result in this big of a collection."

The HHW event is one of several environmental issues that the nine U.P. faith communities are planning to support or oppose.

"One paint can, one car battery at a time, over 125 congregations made a clean sweep of it, collecting tons of toxic materials in the process," said Buddhist Rev. Tesshin Paul Lehmberg, head priest of Lake Superior Zendo. "Lake Superior Zendo feels fortunate and thankful to have participated in this most positive U.P. inter-connection of faith communities."

In applying for the $15,000 EPA grant, organizers labeled their effort the Wanakwi Project, which means "to protect or defend" in Ojibway. The Wanakwi project includes the Earth Keeper Covenant objectives and numerous pollution prevention and Lake Superior initiatives. The projects are coordinated by the Cedar Tree Institute and the Central Lake Superior Watershed Partnership Earth Keeper organizers hope to make Clean Sweep an annual event in the U.P.