Last month, in a big win for efficiency and safety at the Lopez Dump, Facility Manager Colby White and District Manager Ric Carr facilitated the purchase of a long-awaited backhoe to replace aging equipment on-site.
“The old backhoe needed more and more repairs,” said Colby, who located the new (to us) machine in Colville, Washington. The search had been extensive for a machine that met both the organization’s needs and its budget. “The new backhoe has more power, packs containers more efficiently, and will save LSWDD money in the long-run.”
“Whereas we all feel we should respect our elders, replacement parts can only prolong life so far,” noted Gene Helfman, LSWDD board member and Recycle Dog.
The team depends on the backhoe to compress garbage into containers, allowing LSWDD to dispose of as much garbage as possible during each trip off-island. This minimizes both the cost and the environmental impact of hauling our community's waste.
After some maintenance in Burlington, the new backhoe was ready to get to work. Huge thanks to David Zapalac for inspecting the machine and delivering it to the site!
And the news just gets better! Shortly after the backhoe purchase was complete, the Solid Waste Alternatives Program (SWAP) board voted to support the Dump in a big way, making a donation to LSWDD that covered nearly the full cost of the backhoe and necessary maintenance. If you don’t know about them already, SWAP is the organization who put together this summer’s unforgettable Trashion Fashion event. Trashion Fashion raised thousands of dollars in support of community-led waste disposal and zero-waste efforts on Lopez!
“LSWDD offers its profound thanks to SWAP and the Lopez community for this generous donation,” said Ric.
Learn more about SWAP here!
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