RECYCLING ~ 7 cIn this, the conclusion to a two-part | ~ “series, we look at how one local. - _. “youngster was able to turn other Jf: people’s garbage into cherished gifts, talk to. the operator of the Terrace: dump about the issues surrounding salvaging, 7 and peer into downtown dumpsters. ani | Getting down ‘|. By MALCOLM BAXTER .: NEVER TAKE time off. ' I did, And found on: my by unanimous vote, to take on the ‘‘dumpster diving’ ’ assignment for this feature. “| Which is why I spent Sun- ‘. day moming skulking the alleys of the downtown “core, pausing every so often to peer into those behemoths _ of garbage disposal. Shick with the assignment, I figured the obvious first choice was a bank’s dump- -Ster. After all, if an over- .| worked teller had acciden- - tally tossed out a bag fail of -money, the morning would not be entirely wasted, * Nosuch luck ,

. Which struck me as ironic, ith bikes by taking up “| elty's dumpsters. GETTING RIGHT into. his assignment, reporter | Malcolm Baxter takes the , «plunge Into one of the. Coming across nothing — ByRODLINK. “SEE THAT back there? It’s a real good frame. People just don't want them.’ Michael Law points to an up- turned bike frame in the garage of his home. It’s one of several on the floor of the garage, sur- rounded by various boxes con- taining bike parts. Law, 13, rescued the frames and other parts from the city dump. He then tums what others have thrown away into functional bikes for neighbourhood children. “There are kids who really can’t afford bikes so I give them away. It’s nice for people to have bikes who never had them be- fore,” said Law. The youngest recipient was three and Law gave him a salvaged tricycle. ” He’s made about eight or nine bikes out of abandonned bits and pieces, supplementing what he’s missing by buying new parts. Law recently turned some of what he salvaged into a unicycle, Called “‘the bike guy’’ or “Motorbike Mike”’ in his neigh- bourhood, Law began trying to build bikes when he was 11, He soon found the dump a prime location, At first, he col- _ lected botiles-and cans there. to eam money to buy bike parts. He then decided to.skip to get- ting what he needed right from the dump. “A lot of what [ needed was there,’’ said Law. He took care not to climb. the piles of garbage, sticking instead to the fringes, pulling. out what he needed, . It caused him to wonder. why there was never a simple bike parts pile at the dump. It would have made his job a lot casler and shown: others: there is - value in what's thrown away. “There would probably bea lot “more kids into that, Half of them probably don’t ever know,’’ he said of recycling old bikes, But all that changed when new anti-scavenging regulations came in at the dump. Those regulations prevent Law from salvaging parts for his neighbourhood enterprise, “The guy said they’re going to - phone the cops. I said go ahead. I grabbed the paris and quickly left,” he said- of a recent “en- counter, But Law still believes his " idea of a bike parts pile is a good one because people can rescue what will otherwise be buried forever. The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, August 2, 1995 - AS ‘|, HAVE YOU ever hated to throw something away that may have a . Value to someone else? The Terrace Standard has a solution, ; _ li’s starting a category in the classified ad section called To Give "Away. There's no charge to place such an ad. The only hitch is that the -person placing the ad cannot charge for the item or items. This _ classification excludes pets or animals and there isa 20 word limit. __ |. : Our usual classified ad deadline of 5 p.m. Friday applies and we ‘prefer that the ads be placed at our front desk. ‘The Terrace Standard hopes the result will be fewer. items thrown away, thus reducing the pressure being put on Jocal landfills. Regs put brakes on Law _ IN THE FRAME. Michael Law, 13, is seen with the unicycle he fashioned from parts salvaged from . the Terrace dump, Neighbourhood kids benefited from his bike restoration efforts, but changes In the regulations at the landfill site have put a stop to his enterprise. Contract to include salvage rights | By CRIS LEYKAUF IT’S GARBAGE day. As you put out the week’s trash, you notice your neighbour is throwing out a perfectly good end table — a new coat of paint is all it needs, If you want it, grab it, because if it’s déstined for the Terrace dump, you won't have a chance to salvage it ater on. About a year ago the city asked its contractors at the Terrace landfill to crack down on scavengers. ‘We used to have senior citizens scrambling to the top of the wood pile, looking for good 2x45,” says contractor Carole Manson. ‘But there’s boards with nails sticking out in that pile — all sorts of ways to get hurt.’ Other scavengers interfered with the daily ‘operation of the dump. “On some days there were 50 many scavengers: parked all over the place that they were blocking people who wanted to drive up to throw their garbage away.” She estimates: that before the: scavenging. crackdown, Approxi- mately 20 people were actively scavenging at the dump. “People got really mad when we told them they couldn’t do that anymore — that was their living,’* says Manson. | If anything, salvaging rules will just become more strict ia the fu- ture. The current contract Manson ‘and her husband hold expires in a few weeks, The new contract wil! probably give its holdem exclu- . sive scavenging rights. Manson. would like the. op- _ portunity to scavenge because she: * thinks they would Probably make: jt too 0 tempting for people and ‘ ’ month, some dn Working condi: A LOT OF useful furniture is thrown out at the dump, says contractor Carole Manson. she’s seen with above was rescued by Manson herself from the pile In the background. The chalr has since provided good service as something to sit on during long shifts at the Terrace fandfill. more money than they do now, getting paid by the city, “You wouldn't beliove what people throw away,” she says. “A perfectly good couch with a broken eg,:. stoves and’ -dis-/ “hwashers that still work, books, : clothes, chairs that Just need new upholstery, tables... . That list doesn’t even iniclude the value in’. scrap metal, .pop.. cans, wood, and. more, And. Manson estimates at least 30 ap- piiances’ get dropped off each . Som oe Sometimes, ‘those. goodies are: * fexred, them to their home.’ Manson occasionally sees people steal some broken. down treasure. - and take it home.: Just a few weeks ago Manson and her husband decided to plant - some sunflower. seeds on the. ‘compost heap, to give the flowers | _ throwing It out of their vehicle, “ searching for pop cans, This kind..,.]. of. scavenging prompts...angry. ; . -responses from people who feel their privacy ‘is invaded .whea _ someone: goes through hele Bae a good. stert before they. trans- ong - "Bat. some wonian | had” “viowsly. had hier: eye on’ ‘them be. © could cause she. drove “in, quickly © grabbed the” sunflowers’ off the © ‘a facelift. comport ‘heap, “and * screeched’ ‘e ‘good stuf to a group ike the Tes- : ynly slighly t rote, or ust reeds June 12 and he stated, “face airport “to fescue’ people’ trapped | in car accidents. CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARO The Mail Bag Where is. Newsworld? Dear Sir: ; - Why does Kitimat, Terrace and the Smithers area not have “CBC Newsworkd? == “Last May, I was in the City Ceriter: mall to havea petition signed to have Okanagan Skeena Cablevision supply ‘Kitimat with CBC Newsworld. “The reason -~ on our last Skeena survey, everyone | talked to in Kitimat said they ~ voted for CBC Newsworld and ‘Discovery channel. - ‘Tmailed in the petition with |. 437 ‘signatures, to the Cable ” Television Standards. Council in Ottawa with a copy to the CRTC in Ottawa, “I received a letter.from Tim MacLean, Vice President. of Okanagan’ Skeena | -Group on. “The signatures that you . have ac- cumulated in support of the carriage of CBC. Newsworld Tepresent a very small percent- age of our Kitimat subscriber. While we identify with your views and those who supported the petition, the company ‘can- not ignore the majority. of its customers. wishes. to : please what is essentially a very vocal tainority.??. Yes,. 437 signatures. is not many considering I:spent only 12 hours in the shopping mall and I ‘never.’ contacted.- the working people in our: ‘three major industries. 7.0: - I was away. for: three. weeks and upon my: retum, [found out that-in the survey they put out for the selection of :two channels,: Kitimatians: . Te- quested the Discovery channel and the CBC Newsworld.. Why is he misinforming me and ‘the Cable. Television... Standard Council? A copy: of bls letter as to me went to them... For some ‘nkiown’ reason, the Okanagan ‘Skeena Group does not wish to supply the CBC. - {all ~Casndian) Newaworld ta’ Kitimat: -Talso found out that the 1996 Olympics from ‘the US. will have full coverage on th cae Newsworld, : : If the ‘people: fron, Terrace want to ‘watch ‘this, I tecom- mead that y you ‘write: to the fol- lowing: Tim’ MicLean:-V.P. Okanagan Skeena Group, 4635 Lazelle’ “Ave.;” ‘Ternice,” ‘BC V8G 184 and send a copy to: Lynne Trottier; ‘Senior Execu- tive: “Assistant, ‘Cable ‘Televi- sion Standard’ Couneil,’°220 Laurier Ave, W, Ste 5, Cia, Oni SKIP 529," oo + Tf-you want: to:see. the. 1996: ‘Olympics,. ‘full “coverage, _oF: other all Conadians news from: _ across Canada, don’t putt off. Al Egon: Kitimat, BC _ More letters on Page A7 The | Start Tough training IT WAS hard work for a: group of People. last Sats, urday. . ny The group wad ‘thade up from all’: , The group : eared how : to, ‘fescue: People even if they-had: