Hey, MVA, trash collectors, and landfill managers

Kids can have kids; that’s a biological fact. When we become adults we are supposed to train, teach, and mentor kids to be good citizens, and hopefully do a better job with their kids as we did with them. The environment is on everyone’s mind, of course, and recycling is something that is taught in kindergarten but apparently everyone that works for MVA, all the trash haulers and all the managers at the Marpi Landfill were absent that week.

I was at the Taste of the Marianas last Saturday—a great event in case you missed it—and MVA still didn’t take cards for tokens but I’ve been through that before. After my first beer, which was in a bottle, I noticed that there were no recycle bins. I counted 20 big green trash bins from AYD so we all put everything inside these. Bottles, cans, plastic, cardboard, food scraps, everything. So, on Monday, like a good citizen, I went to their office in San Antonio to watch them separate (recycle) all the different items. “No way, Jose,” said they. “We don’t do that, it goes straight from our truck to the Marpi Landfill.” Well, said I, “It’s against the law.” “Don’t know nuttin’ about that,” said they. I want to point out here not only AYD but all the trash haulers dump directly without recycling. So, I went to the people in Lower Base that run the Marpi Landfill and they said, “Yes, it’s against the law to dump glass, cans, metal, plastic, cardboard, hazardous materials and about 20 other things into our beautiful dump,” which by the way, tourists can get a really great view and pictures of from Suicide Cliff. They even have the law on their office computers if you want to see it. What they don’t seem to have is someone that can implement those laws.

If you, the citizens of Saipan, can’t recycle by choice and the trash haulers can’t recycle for profit, then the landfill should be closed and you can just dump your garbage in your neighbor’s empty lot like you’ve been doing forever.

One sure way to get people to recycle bottles, cans and plastic containers, which is up to 80 percent of all our trash, is to get your Legislature to pass a container charge of $2 per container, refundable at the Lower Base transfer station. I can almost guarantee you that every bottle, can, or plastic bottle arriving on Saipan will be accounted for. Please recycle—even kindergarten kids know it’s good for the environment of Saipan.

Gary Dubrall
Chalan Piao, Saipan