In South Valley, we
’ve got water contaminated with perchlorate, mattresses and
chairs dumped in alleyways and vacant lots and even global warming.
Earth Day is April 22. But paying attention to how we’re treating
the Earth is a year-round job for people the world over. Tracy
Pakulniewicz-Chidiac, the communication
s director for the Earth Day Network, said Earth Day is
celebrated by more than half a billion people in 174 countries.
In South Valley, we’ve got water contaminated with perchlorate, mattresses and chairs dumped in alleyways and vacant lots and even global warming.
Earth Day is April 22. But paying attention to how we’re treating the Earth is a year-round job for people the world over.
Tracy Pakulniewicz-Chidiac, the communications director for the Earth Day Network, said Earth Day is celebrated by more than half a billion people in 174 countries.
“Everything that happens in the environment inevitably ends up having an effect on us. You link air pollution to asthma. You take toxic water and toxins in general leading to birth defects,” Pakulniewicz-Chidiac said.
Locally, events are planned to celebrate the day, but long-term actions must be taken to really help make a difference.
In Morgan Hill and Gilroy, like many communities, recycling programs and other efforts are under way to help minimize the negative effect trash and pollution can have on the earth. Both cities have expanded their recycling programs, which used to include just plastics numbered one and two.
Morgan Hill now recycles plastics numbered from one to seven, said Morgan Hill Environmental Program expert Anthony Eulo. The number, usually found on the bottom of a plastic container, designates the type of plastic it’s made out of.
Jensema said a lot of people in Gilroy participate in curbside recycling, but where the city suffers is in illegal dumping.
“We get a lot of complaints about people finding dumped things – mattresses, couches, chairs – in sometimes remote areas, lots and sometimes alleyways,” Jensema said. “That’s just unfortunate. It means people aren’t being responsible.”
The dumped items then become the responsibility of the owner of the property where the items have been dumped or of the city.
To help ease the burden of pollution and trash on their city, Morgan Hill offers services such as free composting classes and information kits on water conservation plus occasional heavy-duty recycling days.
Each month, Gilroy already offers residents a way to dispose of their household hazardous waste for free, instead of residents having to take the waste to the facility in San Martin for disposal.
Both cities are working on holding an e-waste recycling program in the late spring or early summer. That would give residents an opportunity to dispose of electronic waste, such as old computers and television sets, which contain hazardous materials and are no longer allowed in many landfills.
And, in the summer, the city will attempt to get restaurants to compost their food waste. The waste would be put in a special container, picked up and mixed in with the yard waste that is collected, and turned into a beneficial soil additive to help gardens grow.
“Not too many cities are doing that right now,” Jensema said. Morgan Hill also recycles cardboard, all kinds of mixed paper and newspaper, all at curbside convenience.
To prove its dedication to the environment, the city of Morgan Hill is building new structures to meet “green” standards of energy conservation.
An abundance of trash isn’t the only environmental problem South County faces. Water quality has suffered in some private Morgan Hill and San Martin wells as a plume of perchlorate moves through the underground aquifer. Perchlorate is an ingredient in rocket fuel and fireworks.
Olin Corporation, which manufactured safety flares at a Tennant Avenue factory, was responsible for the plume, and the chemical has been detected in unsafe amounts in as many as 450 South Valley wells. Perchlorate can impair thyroid function and cause tumors in humans.
More information on Morgan Hill’s environmental programs is available at www.morgan-hill.ca.gov/ The city’s environmental manager, Anthony Eulo, can be contacted at te***@***************ca.gov or 779-7247.
