On Sept. 17, volunteers across Santa Cruz County – and the state – will combine efforts in a single day to clean rivers and beaches from a summer’s worth of carelessness.
California Coastal Cleanup Day will combine efforts with the River and Road Clean Up. In Scotts Valley, a special e-waste recycling event has been scheduled from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. across from the Fire Department on Erba Lane, for computers, monitors, TVs, printers.
The river cleanup will kick off with a party at Felton Covered Bridge Park, celebrating its 30th year. This effort is led by the Valley Women’s Club, which also founded the San Lorenzo Recycling and Redemption Center, first in Felton, and now also in Boulder Creek, and for 20 years at the Ben Lomond Waste Transfer Station at the former landfill site.
Where does all the trash that is collected on Sept. 17 go?
That’s where Matt Harris and his team come in.
Cans, bottles, plastics, metal, and paper products – his team of 10 people working at the three sites collects it all.
His operation, working in under the supervision of the parent Valley Women’s Club charity, is a non-profit. Commercial waste haulers in the county also pick up recycling from homes.
In rural areas, many residents choose to avoid the commercial pickup. Kay Amos, who lives in the Forest Lakes neighborhood of Felton, said she brings her recyclables to Harris every week, composts her garbage and burns other trash.
Harris began 20 years ago unloading trash for the center, and now is its executive director. When he is not managing the center’s recycling efforts, he plays lead guitar in Who’s Holdin’ a regional rock band.
The centers operate seven days a week. The Felton site, at Hihn Street across the street from the Felton Post Office, is closed on Wednesdays, the Ben Lomond center is closed on Sundays, and the Boulder Creek station is closed on Mondays.
Dramatic changes in the recycling industry in the last few years have put a squeeze on the local recycling efforts. Much of the market for recycled goodshas dried up, with prices plummeting.
Harris estimated that 95 percent of recycling centers like his have gone out of business in the past several years because of the falling prices.
Scrap metal prices, for example, have dropped from $150 per ton to $40 per ton in just two years. He said the closures mean that his centers are receiving more trash than ever, from a wider geographical area.
“We used to just serve the [San Lorenzo] Valley, now we get regular customers from Aromas, all the way to Saratoga and Los Gatos,” he said. “We are a thriving company in a hostile market.”
The quantities are enormous: in a year, 50 tons of aluminum, 157 tons of paper products, more than 1,100 tons of scrap metal, more than 50 tons of plastic.
Harris loves his job, and said his team – several who have worked more than 10 years – is committed to their communities and to keeping the mountains beautiful. “We’re here as a public service,” he said.
He encouraged visitors to sort their recyclables before coming to a center, especially sorting the CRV-refund items.
Customers are paid in store scrip, rather than cash, to be used at participating grocery stores, which no longer handle any CRV payments themselves.
