MacDill's first recycle team

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Tori Schultz
  • 6th Air Mobility Wing public affairs
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE Fla. --  Airman 1st Class Brandi Graves, 6th Comptroller Squadron financial analyst, came to MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., from technical school and noticed things were different from what she was used to, especially when it came to recycling.

"In tech school we had a recycling team in our squadron that picked up recyclables once a week," said Graves. "When I got here, I noticed only one recycling bin by the dumpsters that was over flowing every week, and I wanted to figure out a way to recycle more."

Graves contacted Eric Vichich, 6th Civil Engineer Squadron contractor, and they started working out a plan for the dorms. In the future, each dorm will be receiving two more recycling bins to contain the recyclables until pick-up. Graves and Vichich are also working on getting every dorm resident their own personal bins for their rooms.

"Every Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. the team will meet up at the new dorms and work our way to the old dorms," said Graves. "Dorm residents can put their recyclables outside their door to be picked up, and I will record the weight for each dorm so we can have a contest."

Feb. 5, 2014, kicked off the first recycle team pick-up. Volunteers from the dorms came together to pick up recyclables and dispose of them properly.

"The team collected 105.2 pounds of recyclables their first night," said Graves. "I felt accomplished, excited, and anxious to see what the increase would be next week."