Your Name:

Your Email:

To:

Subject:

Message:
Here's a great article I found at www.northwestnavigator.com: -- Sailors and civilians from around Naval Station (NAVSTA) Everett celebrated Earth Day with a fair and dumpster dive competition April 22. Earth Day was founded by former Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson in 1970, and was designed as a nationwide environmental protest to “shake up the political establishment and force this onto the national agenda.” Les Hastings, NAVSTA recycling and solid waste coordinator, organized this event in conjunction with NAVSTA Environmental Department, to increase awareness of the necessity of looking toward a greener future for our planet. “The naval station’s Earth Day is an affair that is geared toward educating the employees and Sailors on the base how to be environmental stewards in the communities that they live in.” With a brisk 5k fun run to start the celebration, the entire NAVSTA Everett community gathered inside the Commons building where a fair of booths had spread out inside the gymnasium. Information from Snohomish County organizations, as well as several Navy organizations like the Navy Exchange, was posted at each booth, educating Sailors and civilian employees exactly how to take better care of nature. Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon was the keynote speaker, following the presentation of several environmental awards. NAVSTA Everett is noted as an environmentally sound base, with energy efficiency and spill prevention incorporated into the building designs, an oily waste treatment program, and no asbestos. The station has been the recipient of the Secretary of the Navy and Chief of Naval Operations Pollution Prevention award, as well as the State of Washington Recycler of the Year award. “It’s important to take care of the environment, because we can see the greenhouse effect going on right now,” said Aviation Boatswain’s Mate Travis Otusajan, USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72). “If we keep polluting our atmosphere the way we are doing then eventually it going to be messed up everywhere.” After lunch, fair participants ran outside for the dumpster diving championship. The teams taking part in the competition were from the Navy Operational Support Center (NOSC), Branch Health Clinic, Everett, NAVSTA Everett staff, NAVSTA Everett Chief Petty Officers Mess, and the NAVSTA Everett First Class Petty Officers Association. The winner of the day was the BHCE team. For the competition, each team was surrounded by garbage cans and dumpsters, the idea being to sort through as much recycling as possible in the given time, with added points for teamwork, finding hidden carabiner key chains, and identifying where your team’s trash and recycling bins came from around the naval station. Polagaya Mclaughlin, senior planner, Snohomish County Solid Waste Distribution, as well as head judge for the championship, emphasized the importance of living a more actively green lifestyle, as well as encouraging Sailors and civilian employees to utilize new countywide waste management programs. “It’s not hard to recycle and it’s important. We sorted down what was still in the dumpsters to between 75 to 90 percent, so that is a reminder to people that they could be recycling a lot more,” said Mclaughlin. http://www.northwestnavigator.com/index.php/navigator/regionalnews/everett_hosts_earth_day_fair/