Happy Holidays to All

As we approach our 80th year in business, we are reminded of the values our parents, E.J. and Myra, instilled in us – the importance of family and an unwavering commitment to our customers and the communities we serve.

We are proud of the high level of service we have provided since 1932 and resolve to maintain our high standards in 2012 and for years to come as we move toward Zero Waste. Our mother Myra is now 96 years young and joins us in wishing you a joyous Holiday Season and Happy New Year!

Jim, Myron and Ralph


Extra Trash Allowed After Holidays

As a special holiday feature, Harrison customers may put out twice the amount of trash at no extra charge during the two weeks after December 25. Please make sure the trash is in bags alongside the trash barrel. We also collect extra recyclables, but please make sure to flatten all boxes and place alongside the recycling barrel as well.


Recycle Your Christmas Tree

E.J. Harrison & Sons and the City of Ventura make it easy for you to recycle your Christmas tree.

All you need to do is remove the ornaments, hooks, lights, tinsel, bows, nails and tree stand. Cut the tree into four-foot sections and place in your yard waste barrel on your scheduled pickup day. Please remember, however, that flocked trees cannot be recycled.

Trees we collect will be will processed into various sizes of mulch. The material is used by Agromin to make several products that benefit our farmlands, orchards, nurseries and our own gardens.

Community Memorial Health System is renowned for saving lives. But did you know that CMHS has been taking huge steps to help save the planet?

The health system is anchored by century-old Community Memorial Hospital and includes Ojai Valley Community Hospital and nine Centers for Family Health. The system is as large as a small city, employing more than 2,000 people. The health centers are located in Ventura, Oxnard, Ojai, Oak View, Fillmore, Santa Paula and Camarillo.

“We do an even better job of recycling than I realized,” said Michael Ellingson, vice president of marketing and development, as he gathered information for this article.

Community Memorial Hospital has multiple blue recycling bins on each of its eight floors and there is a recycling compactor on the premises.

“We use our internal newsletter to encourage our employees to recycle,” Ellingson said. The two hospitals and the Centers for Family Health collect tons upon tons of recyclables which include cardboard, paper, bottles, cans, batteries, ink toners and even towels.

Community Memorial Hospital broke ground in September on a new hospital on property adjacent to the existing structure. Over 500 community members attended the event. Speakers included Ventura Mayor Bill Fulton, former Ventura County District Attorney Michael Bradbury and Lynn Bova, who gave birth to quintuplets at CMH in 2001.

This summer buildings were demolished on the site to make way for the new hospital and the amount of materials hauled away for recycling staggers the imagination.

The hospital achieved an extraordinary diversion during the demolition phase, as 90 percent of materials were hauled away by Harrison Industries trucks to the Gold Coast Recycling Center and to Agromin. Recyclables from the demolition included 81.6 tons of iron, a ton of copper, 9.6 tons of P&S steel, 2.2 tons of aluminum, 3,600 tons of concrete asphalt and 30 tons of green waste.

Much of that tonnage ended up in Japan to help rebuild from the devastating earthquakes that ravaged that country recently, said George Harrison, general manager of Gold Coast Recycling.

Participants of the Sept. 14 groundbreaking pose in front of an artist’s rendering of the new Community Memorial Hospital.

“Community Memorial’s new hospital in Ventura aspires to be one of the few LEED certified hospitals in the nation,” said Gary Wilde, President and CEO of CMHS. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Working with strategic partners Harrison Industries, Gold Coast Recycling and others, the hospital is incorporating “green” principals, as defined by LEED for healthcare guidelines in the hospital’s design, building processes and operations.

“Green is the right thing to do” is the banner of a flier the health system uses as its mantra as it moves forward with development of a new Community Memorial Hospital.

“Our strong commitment to patients, families, staff and the community motivate us to incorporate in the new Community Memorial Hospital an environment that conserves energy, reduces water consumption, uses renewable resources, recycles waste and reduces storm water run-off.

“The design team for Community Memorial Hospital continually investigates innovative strategies for green design, construction and operations.”

Green design elements for the new hospital include:

• Preferred parking for fuel efficient and car pool vehicles.
  
• Built on previously developed land.
  
• Double and triple-glazed windows.
  
• Flooring, furniture and finishes constructed with refurbished or recycled materials.
  
• Use of locally sourced materials.
  

The new Community Memorial Hospital will be a six-story facility that will encompass more than 325,000 square feet, making it 60 percent larger than the current hospital. It will be in complete compliance with state seismic codes.

Saving lives. Saving the planet. That’s a mission worth supporting.

Moving toward ‘Zero Waste’
Begins with You

Harrison Industries is committed to “Zero Waste” and we have in place a three-barrel residential curbside system that makes it easy for our customers to do the right thing and recycle.

Always remember: Recycling starts with you. Follow the recycling, yard waste and trash guidelines printed on the back page of this “Trash Flash” and we guarantee it will get recycled.

There’s a misconception that it is OK to place recyclable materials such as glass, plastics, aluminum cans and paper products in your green trash container, since they will be sorted at Gold Coast Recycling & Transfer Station. That is not the case! Trash is visually sorted at Gold Coast for contaminated materials such as paint cans, batteries and tires – items that are unlawful to be buried in landfills. So if you, for instance, place a plastic bottle or any other recyclable item in your green trash barrel, it will end up in the landfill.

It’s just as important not to place trash, food scraps and wet paper in your blue recyclables container. “Wet waste” can contaminate recyclable materials and leave them unsalvageable. “Wet waste” can also weigh down plastic bottles as well as aluminum and tin cans so that they become too heavy to be picked out by our sorting line’s blowers and end up in our landfills.

For that same reason, you should always empty your plastic bottles and aluminum cans before placing them in your blue recycling barrel. Half-empty cans and bottles – even cans and bottles with a small amount of liquid left in them – can be too heavy for our sorting line’s blowers to pick out.

Another misconception is that you have to clean your cans and bottles. Not true! Cleaning them wastes water.

To learn more about the sorting processes, see our videos online at www.ejharrison.com, www.goldcoastrecycling.com and www.agromin.com.

E.J. Harrison & Sons
Recycling, Yard Waste and Trash Guidelines

What goes in the Trash?

Hopefully, very little.

After you have recycled, composted, filled the yard waste cart, donated old clothing and goods, and done all of those good things and more—most of the rest can go in the trash.

How to Place Your Cart for Automated Collection

The automated arm of the collection truck needs room to grab the cart. Carts should be placed with the wheels away from the curb, 2-3 feet apart from each other and from objects such as mailboxes and cars.

Carts should be out by 7:00 a.m. on
collection days and put away by 8:00 p.m. that same day.

What Doesn't go in the Trash or any other cart?

STOP No Hazardous Waste!!

These items are NOT accepted for Trash or Recycling.

Hazardous Waste Tires TVs/Computer Monitors Batteries

Closed Containers Oil or Paints Fluorescent Light Tubes & Bulbs Medical Needles

For information on how to dispose of these items, please call:
City of Ventura: 652-4525