Winter 1999
In This Issue:
- New School Curriculum on Oil
- GIS for Tracking Oil Recycling
Success
- Boating Guide for Southern
California
- Mascot Mania Hits San Bernardino
- Filter Collection Gets Classy
- Be Smart With Your “Sharps'
- Regional Cooperative Success
— Alameda County Leverages Resources
- Integrated Waste
Management Board Updates
____________________________________________________________
New School Curriculum
on Oil
Looking for a way to reach young drivers
and high school students with your recycling message? The IWMB
is excited to announce publication of a new high school science
curriculum: Earth Resources – A Case Study: Oil.
This nine- to twelve-week curriculum unit
enables 9th and 10th graders to explore the scientific concepts
and environmental issues associated with the processing, use,
disposal, and conservation of natural resources, using motor oil
as the case study. The curriculum includes concepts from earth
science, biology, chemistry, and physics, and develops around
a central theme that is related directly to the lives of students,
particularly those who are learning how to drive.
Earth Resources – A Case Study: Oil
strives to equip students with the scientific knowledge that will
help them to make informed decisions about the consumption of
natural resources. The unit features learning methods, assessment
techniques and curriculum components which are on the cutting
edge of educational theory and national and state standards for
education. The lessons were developed and field-tested by science
teachers throughout Cali-fornia to actively engage all students.
All of the unifying section and lesson concepts are based on the
National Science Education Standards, Bench-marks for Science
Literacy, California Science Framework, and California Guide to
Environmental Literacy.
The unit culminates with a service-learning
component. Through such projects, students can expand and apply
the content they have learned through the Earth Resources unit
while interacting with community agencies and businesses, developing
work-based skills, and learning about related career opportunities.
This is truly the only curriculum of its kind available in California.
Developed by the IWMB and the California Scope, Sequence and Coordination
Project, Earth Resources has the support and recommendation of
California Department of Education.
California high school science teachers
can receive this curriculum by attending free six hour training
workshops to equip themselves with the strategies and skills to
effectively incorporate the unit into their existing science programs.
Scheduled this winter and spring, the
workshops will be conducted by trained “staff developers,'
who are teachers who have gone through extensive training to become
Earth Resources experts. Teachers attending a workshop will receive
a free curriculum, along with a supplemental resource kit containing
educational videos, colorful posters, informative booklets, and
a variety of lab materials that are used in the student investigations.
The value of this package is well over $200.
To connect teachers with possible community
resources that can enhance the implementation of the curriculum,
the workshops will also facilitate school partnerships with local
government agencies responsible for used oil recycling programs.
Workshops are already planned in many areas, and local jurisdictions
have the opportunity to market these trainings and/or sponsor
additional workshops for their jurisdictions.
For information on workshop dates and
locations, contact your K-12 Alliance hub staff developer (see
insert), or call Earth Resources Project Director Brenda Hamilton,
(650) 470-0404 or e-mail her at bhamilt@wested.org.
Earth Resources – A Case Study: Oil
is available free of charge to used oil and HHW grant managers.
Please call Natalie Lee, IWMB, (916) 255-2654 or e-mail to nlee@ciwmb.ca.gov.
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GIS for Tracking Oil
Recycling Success
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is
a powerful computer tool to map, measure and evaluate oil recycling
programs. The Regional Council of Rural Counties initiated their
GIS program eight months ago to better understand the disposal
patterns and needs of the 20-county Environmental Services Joint
Powers Authority.
The Regional Council of Rural Counties
(RCRC) hopes to determine where the oil is coming from and what
areas need additional collection facilities. They also plan to
monitor their programs’ success by collecting multiple “layers'
of data including, collection center locations, oil distribution
locations, illegal disposal locations, demographic data and media
coverage overlays.
RCRC has worked with state, federal and
local government agencies to begin collecting this data, and they
have several well established layers, including baseline data
they collected from county fairs this last summer. RCRC’s
recommendation to others considering GIS: collect very detailed
and accurate data. While this has also been their biggest challenge,
they believe the investment will be worthwhile because it will
allow them to conduct better analysis. Some of the rural jurisdictions
in the RCRC, and many urban local government planning and public
works department, have GIS systems and may be able to help you
with your analysis, or provide data layers for the analysis of
your oil program.
For more information on RCRC’s efforts,
call Paul Morales at (916) 447-4806.
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Boating Guide for Southern
California
The Southern California Boaters Guide,
produced by the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project, is an invaluable
resource for boaters traveling in Southern California and for
grantees who want a better overview of nearby harbors. The detailed
guide highlights key features and important information for fourteen
harbors in Santa Barbara, Ventura, Orange, Los Angeles and San
Diego counties.
Each harbor description includes an ariel
photo and map of important facilities (i.e., waste facilities,
restrooms, docks, showers), a description of the site and site
access, and contact information for guest slips, maintenance and
repair. The guide also includes a section on best management practices
for boaters. Books are $16.25 including tax and shipping.
For more information, call Carrie Katsumata
at the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project, (213) 266-7566.
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Mascot Mania Hits San
Bernardino
The west end group in San Bernardino County
has mascot mania. Over the past six years, many cities in the
county have developed their own mascots for educational outreach.
The City of Rancho Cucamonga, for example, has two mascots —
RC Coyote and Slick A. Sauourus. On most recycling materials,
the coyote mascot evolved because of the area’s rural urban
mix of homes and the sight of coyotes occasionally spotted running
around town. The dinosaur mascot is on most oil materials and
conveys the prehistoric nature of oil. At several regional educational
events, there have been more than five mascots including a coyote,
dinosaur, cow, squirrel, and a “Caped Crude Saver.'
For more information, call Bob Zetterberg,
City of Rancho Cucamonga, at (909) 477-2740 x2320.
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Filter Collection Gets
Classy
The City of San Bernardino recently initiated
a used oil filter collection program to complement their curbside
pick-up. After purchasing nearly 2,000 rectangular plastic containers
that hold one filter each, the City is promoting and distributing
the containers to its residents.
When researching alternatives, the City
opted for a non-rolling, non-disposable, sealable container; the
one selected is reusable and has a screw top lid. Collection operators
remove the filter from the container and leave it on the curb
for the resident to reuse.
The City collects its used oil and filters
in a classy vehicle: a green and black ’45 Dodge pick-up,
fitted with oil collection containers, filter buckets, and oil
recycling decals on the side. The truck has been a hit at the
’66 Rendezvous car show.
For more information, call Linda Ceballos,
City of San Bernardino (909) 384-5549 x3424.
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Be Smart With Your “Sharps'
Several cities in California have initiated
programs designed to protect the safety of waste operators and
the public by collecting needles, syringes, and other pricking
devices known as “sharps.'
The City of Rancho Cucamonga initiated
a sharps program two years ago, and is currently working on their
third. They have five collection sites throughout the City, one
at each of their fire stations. Community residents can confidentially
drop off sharps in a plastic container for no charge, and pick
up fresh container.
In the past two years, the City has collected
nearly a ton of sharps — nearly two million that may have
otherwise gone to landfill, been buried or flushed down the drain.
A strong relationship between the City
fire department, integrated waste department and waste haulers
has emerged. The haulers pay for the program because of potential
problems associated with injuring waste staff by sharps.
For more information, call Bob Zetterberg,
City of Rancho Cuca-monga, (909) 477-2740 x 2320.
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Regional Cooperative
Success — Alameda County Leverages Resources
The Alameda County Used Oil Cooperative
demonstrates the power of regional partnerships. With the City
of Oakland as Lead Agency, the Cooperative has leveraged CIWMB
grant funds to create a unified, multi-year media campaign.
Inspired by a pilot program undertaken
by Alameda County jurisdictions in 1996, and CIWMB grant money
and administrative support for cooperative partnerships, the Cooperative
unites 14 Alameda County jurisdictions under one banner to promote
used oil and oil filter recycling. The Cooperative was able to
amass more than $400,000 for the three-year campaign by building
a team of five regional participants who donate their entire Fifth
Cycle Block Grant funds to the project, seven cooperative participants
who donate 10-20% of their grant funds to the project, and two
casual participants who contribute 20% of their grant funds, but
are not formally part of the Cooperative.
The Cooperative selected Cowan Communication
Arts (CCA) to develop a multi-faceted mass media campaign that
includes television, radio, transit and print advertising. After
months of meetings and periodic memos from the City of Oakland
about key decisions, CCA developed a vibrant campaign.
The campaign has unified look and utilizes
three slogans: You Do It Right; Take Care of What You Drive; and
Make a Change for the Better! All ads target young males and are
more oriented to sending a hip message than they are to promoting
an environmental message. The ads are consistent across the media
in color, character and tone, and include props DIYers can relate
to — cars like a Chevy, VW Beetle and BMW and a Raiders football
cap. The campaign utilizes the 1-800-Cleanup hotline to direct
residents to drop-off locations and curbside collection programs.
Cooperative members work with the hotline to ensure the data is
current and correct and to receive tracking information.
Media coverage includes more than 320
TV ads, 186 radio ads, 84 bus-side ads and 12 full color print
ads. Television advertising airs on ESPN, TNT, Fox Sports and
USA (“Baywatch') and on KDTV, the top Spanish station. While
there has not been a significant increase in hotline calls this
year, the three-year effort is likely to contribute to the long-term
retention and practice of safe oil and filter recycling. The Cooperative
has allowed jurisdictions to work together in new ways, leveraging
re-sources and creating a consistent oil and filter recycling
message countywide.
For more info, call Jennifer Stanley,
City of Oakland, (510) 238-6889 or e-mail to
jstanley@oaklandnet.com.
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Continued on next
page. 
1999: Winter | Spring
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