Attendance:

Suzanne Noble, Dennis Wilson, Betty Meilander, Jim Wilson, April Sheeley, Jack Carpenter, Dianne Hucakbay, Amy Mohler

• Volunteer Opportunities: Seeking to fill…

  • Secretary-Betty Meilander showed some interest

  • Email liaison

  • Website manager

  • EGRC data collection-Amy Mohler volunteered

  • Trainer-Jim Wilson volunteered

  • Places to check…

    • CWU Independent study

    • CWU Sustainability 

    • CWU Chemistry

  • Bob Raap may have interested student interns-Amy will check

  • CWU Environmental Club

• Finances: Jack reported- EGRC recently began paying the Ellensburg Morning Rotary Foundation Accountant (EMRF) $125 to do EGRC bookkeeping, although EGRC is still only collecting donations through EMRF.

  • EGRC is in the black (estimated $7000) because:

    • Don Claypool repairs parts so that EGRC does not need to continually buy them.

    • Farmer’s Market receives a large amount of donations for products created from collected glass, such as glassware, tumbled glass, earrings, color sifted sand, crafts.

• Farmer’s Market Report: Betty reported that Wilson glassware continues to be the biggest money maker, but sea glass and earrings sell at a similar rate. She began making Christmas ornaments and crafts, selling her first craft for $20 last Saturday. EGRC’s last day at the Farmer’s Market will be September 24.

• Other market venues: The question about other outlets to sell EGRC merchandise was explored.  Facebook Marketplace, Etsy, holiday bazaars were all mentioned. April mentioned investing in a shared artist workspace that the Puppet lab has to share. This would allow a warm place where stationary equipment could be used to make things using glass. There was discussion about teaching people how to make the EGRC items at the Senior Center, Gallery One workshops, and Roxie Allen’s space. Amy volunteered to inquire about the Puppet lab, Gallery One, and Roxie Allen space. Suzanne volunteered to check out the Senior Center. Suzanne and Dennis volunteered to teach their skills at these spaces.

• Department of Ecology Solid Waste Exemption: 4-8 yds of crushed sand needs to be taken out and used from the bunkers by February of 2023. That is an estimated full bunker of sand that needs to be utilized.

• LVScreener update: the machine has an electronic error code and is in need of repair. It is under warranty, but is taking longer than expected. Dominic Perron is helping Jack with this.

• Yakima Recycles Glass: The Yakima group plans to break away and is in the initial stages of finding money and a location for a glass crusher.  Mick and Sarah host a monthly Drive In Drop Off (DIDO) at OIC in Yakima where they invite their Yakima county contact group to bring clean glass to drop off with a small payment. Yakima is speaking with different Yakima Rotary Clubs to find funding.  They are taking a trip to Chelan Rotary led “911 Glass” to learn how they got their start.  They also plan to speak with Cynthia Andela of Andela Crushers and plan to go to a NextCycle Washington webinar on September 21st. 

  • EGRC encourages upper county and other Kittitas county groups to coordinate such Drive in Drop offs, as the community consistently requests such a service.

• New Markets for Glass Sand:  

  • A local chemist plans to make Potassium silicate and Potassium Hydroxide and will be able to utilize tons of glass sand in the process.  Fertilizer companies have high demand for these compounds making it a promising enterprise. 

  • ​Master Gardeners and Queen of Spades will be experimenting with glass sand in the near future.

  • ​2 Department of Ecology Events coming in Spring 2023: EGRC has been invited to both these events to speak on panels and give tours.  More information to come in the months ahead.

• Reminder: at the shed mixed paper and metal from your bottles can be placed in the small labeled boxes on the North table for Barry to recycle
  
  Respectfully written by April Sheeley