Wiege 1

Jacoby Wiege
November 12, 2014
Professor Korpi
English 101
Waste to energy systems will deliver energy 90% of the time compared to
wind that is significantly less (Nyhus Communications). We should have a waste to
energy plant at Clark College because there are many benefits that come with it. If
we went ahead and got a waste-to-energy system, there are economic benefits,
community involvement, and educational values that would have to happen.
There are so many things that come with the waste to energy plants like
economic benefits. Many of the plants provide money for their budgets from taxes.
Reporter Ron Judd states in his What a big bunch of garbage article, Roosevelt's
"tipping fees" and taxes contribute between $7 million and $8 million a year to the
county's $25 million budget, he says. Without it, county employee roles would be
cut by half (Judd). The plant would end up earning money for the community and
also open up more jobs. Many places rely on the plants for jobs. There are many
jobs that would be filled from people in our community. having the gas rights has
continued to have local jobs (Nyhus Communications) There would be hundreds of
jobs that a waste-to-energy plant would bring. Roosevelt sustains 170 family-wage
jobs. (Judd) If we decided to open a waste to energy plant we would need lots of

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community involvement. The school would end up saving tons of money through
hearting costs.
The community and the school would have heating that would cost less so
homeowners and businesses to thoroughly isolate buildings to avoid wasting this
new heating energy. (Humes) Not only would we get power out of the plants, we
would also get heat. There is only one thing that some plants have a problem with:
the plastic bags. The only thing the plants ask is to "Just tie a knot in them" (Judd)
One thing places have tried to solve that problem is a plastic bag ban, but many
Others saw so many loopholes. (Humes) There are many of plants that have
problems with the bags like Roosevelt: seemingly everywhere: plastic grocery
bags, dancing on the wind and, eventually, snagging in large mesh fences erected
along the ridgelines specifically for that purpose (Nyhus Communications) We
would have to try to reduce the number of plastic bags we use as a community. We
cant have some people doing it and others completely ignoring it. If we can have
the community involvement we need the last thing is the education value.
Many people dont see the educational value in the waste-to-energy plants,
many of people dont see whats going on at the plants. Lots of Americans dont even
know what happens to their garbage, Is all that invisibility bad? Should everyone
whose trash comes here be required to spend a day seeing what gets buried by

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giant earth movers with spiked metal wheels as large as Smart Cars? (Nyhus
Communications) But since the plant would be by a school, we could have classes
that connect with the plant. Clark could even set up an internship with the plant
and help students with jobs. There are endless idea of things we could do with the
plant to improve are education, like filed trips to see what happens to are garbage.
Many people dont know what the plants do but after they learn they support them:
Twenty years ago, a few local residents protested the notion of their homeland
becoming the Northwest's regional garbage can. Today, Thayer says, "I never hear
one word about it." (Judd) This is why a waste-to-energy plant could be beneficial.
Clark College needs to be a leader in the waste to energy plant, because
after we start doing it and prove how much it benefits us many people will follow
us. If we can be the leader in the waste to energy plants we could change how we
look at are garbage problem and maybe conquer it. If we started doing this and it
showed to work we could be the example that many other schools and communitys
look at to maybe start theres one day.

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Work Cited

Nyhus Communications. Allied Waste Roosevelt Regional

Landfill. Online Video Clip. YouTube.YouTube, 20 Nov. 2009.
Web. 20 Oct. 2014.
Judd, Ron. What a Bunch of Garbage: But Roosevelt Landfill
Turns it into Power. The Seattle Times 3, Aug. 2012. Web. 20
Oct. 2014.
Humes, Edward. "Chapter 11." Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair
with Trash. New York: Avery, 2012. N. pag. Print.