[greenyes] Examining Room Paper

[Mary Appelhof <mappelho@no.address>]

Alex asks:

 >Is examining table paper from a medical clinic recyclable?  I've 
just done a waste assesment at a
clinic and this question came up.  They discard it into their trash 
currently, not into any kind of bio-hazard container. <

It would make great worm bedding. The fact that they currently 
discard it into their trash rather than treating it as a bio-hazard 
indicates that they do not consider it to contain infectious levels 
of pathogens.

In the work done by Binet Payne and her students at Laytonville 
Middle School in Laytonville, CA, they found that the material taking 
up the greatest volume in the dumpsters was paper from the elementary 
classrooms. This was paper that was often contaminated with crayon, 
paste, finger-painting goop, colored construction paper, and not 
recyclable in the normal fashion. They worked out a program where the 
youngsters would go down the hall with a balloon-tired wheelbarrow to 
collect the paper every week, hauling it out to the shred-shed where 
the older students shredded it. This shredded paper made great worm 
bedding, and tests by an independent laboratory showed either no 
detectable levels of benzene, ethybenzene or lead. Toluene and xylene 
were found at minimum detection levels which, according to the lab, 
were insignificant.

Removal of this high-volume material from the waste stream meant that 
dumpster use was reduced from 1/week to 1/month, resulting in 
significant savings for waste disposal.

My guess is that similar efficiencies could be achieved by shredding 
the exam-table paper and using it for worm bedding on the premises. 
Commercial vermicomposting systems are now available that could 
handle food wastes in sizable quantities and make use of what is 
currently costing money to dispose of.

For more information on the vermicomposting program at Laytonville 
Middle School, see "The Worm Cafe: Mid-scale Vermicomposting of 
Lunchroom Wastes" by Binet Payne, published by Flower Press, and 
available at: 
http://www.wormwoman.com/acatalog/Wormwoman_catalog_The_Worm_Cafe_4.html
--
Mary Appelhof, Author of "Worms Eat My Garbage"
Flowerfield Enterprises,10332 Shaver Road,Kalamazoo, MI 49024 USA
PLEASE NOTE NEW AREA CODE: PH:269-327-0108  FAX 269-327-7009


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