Michigan Recycling Coalition

26th Annual MRC Conference and Business Expo

AGENDA

Tuesday, May 13th
8:15 am - 1:00 pm Golf Outing
Hit the links for the pre-conference golf outing at the beautiful Crown Golf Club in Traverse City. There will be a shotgun start at 8:15 am. Click here for the registration form.

8:00 am - 11:00 am
MICHIGAN ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
CURRICULUM TRAINING SUPPORT (MEECS)
Presented by: Pam Schmidt, MSUE-Leelanau
Note: This session will be held at the Grand Traverse County MSU Extension Office, 520 W. Front Street, Ste. A, Traverse City, 49684. Attendees are responsible for their own transportation to the workshop.
Are you looking for great new resources to help teach about energy in Michigan? In this three hour workshop, each participant will learn about, and receive a complete unit set (includes notebook with lessons, CD-rom with PowerPoint presentations, posters, maps, and other Michigan-specific energy related teaching resources), valued at least $50. The Energy Resources unit is designed to be used with students in grades 7-9, but can be adapted for a variety of different audiences and ages. Lessons focus on Michigan's energy use and sources, how electricity is generated, renewable and non-renewable energy resources, energy conservation and efficiency, and environmental sustainability.There is an additional charge of $60 (includes lunch) to attend this session.

9:00 am - 2:00 pm Exhibitor Set-up
12:00 pm - 4:30 pm Early Bird Conference Registration
12:30 pm - 4:30 pm Tours

Transportation to tour locations will be provided. The bus will leave from the Park Place Hotel promptly at 12:30 pm. No preregistration is necessary.

2:00 pm - 5:00 pm Exhibit hall open
5:00 pm - 8:00 pm “Taste of Traverse City” dinner event

Wednesday, May 14th
7:30 am Registration opens
8:00 am - 8:00 pm Exhibits open
7:30 am - 8:30 am Buffet Breakfast
8:15 am - 8:30 am Welcome/Opening Remarks MRC President, Bill Gurn
8:30 am - 9:15 am Plenary Session

OVERVIEW OF SUCCESS: NORTHWEST MICHIGAN SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS FORUM
Presented by: Patty O'Donnell, Northwest Michigan Council of Governments
The Northwest Michigan Sustainable Business Forum was created in 2005 as a program of the Northwest Michigan Council of Governments. It was started by businesses in the 10-county region of Emmet, Charlevoix, Antrim, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Leelanau, Benzie, Manistee, Wexford and Missaukee who are united in their commitment to the principles of economic prosperity, environmental quality, and social equity. This session will provide an overview of the programs goals and successes as well as its visions for the future
.
9:30 am - 10:30 am BREAKOUT SESSIONS:
ecyclingtools.com: Information Businesses Need
to Make IT Management Green
Presented by: Susan E. Boehme, PhD, US EPA Region 5, Chris Newman, US EPA Region 5, Elizabeth Hinchey, US EPA Region 5
Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant has worked with U.S. EPA Region 5 to develop a website to provide green IT management resources to small and medium-sized businesses. This website brings together many tools from EPA, and other sources, to offer businesses a quick and easy place to find information that can make their IT purchasing, use, and end-of-life management green. This presentation will demonstrate the website and highlight several of the tools that are available on it.

RESOURCE INTERPRETATION - BEYOND FACTS
Presented by: Bill Herd/Marie Scott, National Park Service, Sleeping Bear Dunes
Design your environmental education programs so that your audience makes the emotional and intellectual connections to their “sense of place” on our earth. Motivate and empower people to make environmentally friendly choices. Over 30 years of interpretive experience and staff training will be shared at this workshop through group discussion and exercises utilizing the National Park Service interpreter training modules.

SAFE PASSAGE: COMBATING POVERTY
THROUGH EDUCATION
Presented by: Elizabeth Price, Safe Passage
Safe Passage was founded in 1999 by the late Hanley Denning of Maine as a way to bring hope and opportunity to the children of the Guatemala City who survive by salvaging through the city's garbage dumps. This presentation will provide an overview of the program and describe ways people in our community can get involved and make a real difference in the lives of the children and families served.

10:30 am - 10:45 am Coffee Break

10:45 am - 11:45 am BREAKOUT SESSIONS:
GOODWILL GOING GREEN: AUTOMOTIVE
BY-PRODUCT UTILIZATION & DELL ELECTRONIC RECYCLING PARTNERSHIP
Presented by: Susanne Fredericks, Goodwill Industries International, & Randy Slikkers, Goodwill Association of Michigan
This presentation will discuss how the automotive companies have partnered with Goodwill to effectively reuse, remanufacture and/or recycle by-products that were previously put in the landfill and how this program can be implemented in other industries. We will also discuss how Goodwill and Dell have partnered to create an e-cycling initiative called Reconnect.

TRASHALYSIS: TEACHERS, TOIL & TRASH
Presented by: Dr. Mark Seals, Alma College
The project “Trashalysis” is designed to be a multi-leveled and purposed teaching and learning science activity for middle school students that can have far-reaching effects within their local community. The purpose of this presentation is to describe Trashalysis to individuals in key positions to share this idea with local educators and those who would like to try this activity.

SUCCESSFULLY FUNDING AND IMPLEMENTING
MUNICIPAL COMMERCIAL RECYCLING
Presented by: Bryan Weinert, City of Ann Arbor
Participants will learn how Ann Arbor defined and addressed the issue of commercial recycling, and how it has moved toward full implementation, including development of an ongoing financing structure for these expanded programs and services.

12:00 pm - 12:30 pm MRC Annual Meeting
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm Lunch

RECYCLED BUILDING MATERIALS & GREEN BUILDING
Presented by: Patrick Hudson, Michigan Energy Office
This presentation will cover five main sections: 1) Embodied Energy and Building Materials, 2) Recycled/Reused Building Materials (and corresponding outlets for such materials), 3) Building Materials from Recycled Content, 4) Green Building Phenomenon, and 5) Resources (web information, helpful organizations etc.)

VOLUNTEER EDUCATORS IN THE CLASSROOM: RECRUITING, TRAINING AND RETAINING
Presented by: Mary U. Manner, The Great Lakes Children's Museum
The Great Lakes Children's Museum volunteer educators have been delivering programs in Traverse City area schools for almost ten years. Our methods and best practices for recruiting, training and retaining volunteer educators will be presented in this session along with some practical tips on how to prepare classroom teachers for your visit.

RECLAIMED WOOD: CREATING GREEN PRODUCTS FROM DEAD AND DYING TREES
Presented By: Carey Pauquette Schalm, Isabella Conservation District, Jason Bing, Recycle Ann Arbor
This session will discuss the potential for program development for communities facing the devastation of invasive species and high ongoing costs for wood disposal. With globalization comes pests, creating more organic debris in our already sizable wood waste streams. This bleak situation can be turned into an opportunity to create profitable, sustainable products. Join us as we explore these opportunities.

2:30 pm - 2:45 pm Refreshment Break

2:45 pm - 4:00 pm BREAKOUT SESSIONS:
PICKING PAPER APART
Presented By: Sandy Rosen, Great Lakes International Recycling, Other speakers to be determined
How has sorting technology impacted paper quality? Top processors and consumers discuss improvements in paper sorting and recycling technology.

NO LIMITS: QUALITY 4R EDUCATION WITH LIMITED TIME AND STAFF
Presented by: Jill Adams, Berrien County
Learn practical ways to incorporate 4R Education Programs for school-aged children with limited time and staff. Education is often an important component of a solid waste plan. Finding the time to carry out the educational programs may be difficult, especially with limited staff. Participants will leave this session with a list of easy to execute ideas for sustainable, quality 4R Education Programs that can be achieved by an office of one.

WHAT'S YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT? A HEALTHCARE CASE STUDY
Presented By: Cathy Semer, Resource Recycling Systems, Inc.
What effect does healthcare have on the environment, and how can we lessen the negative effects? This session will provide an overview of this very issue.

4:00 pm - 5:00 pm Exhibitor Reception
Spend some time networking with the exhibitors. Learn about their products, services and the ways they can make your organization more functional.

6:00 pm - 7:15 pm Awards Banquet/Keynote Address
Join us as we honor those who have made great strides in the recycling industry. Keynote Speaker: Barbara Nussa, Waste Management

HOW GREEN IS YOUR GARBAGE?
Sustainability seems to be the buzz these days. This session will discuss Waste Management's sustainability goals and how this company thinks outside the box as well as ways to recycle outside traditional curbside recycling collection. Also discussed will be eCycling and how you can handle those TV's after the FCC regulations change in 2009, waste-based energy projects, mail back programs to recycle such items at fluorescent bulbs, batteries, cell phone and toner cartridges, reuse of land for different conservation programs, and public partnerships.

7:15 pm - 8:30 pm Live Auction
After dinner prepare to have some fun at the ever-popular live auction. Auctioneer services provided by Mike Furlo of Furlo Auction Service.

Thursday, May 15th
7:30 am Registration
7:30 am - 9:00 am Continental Breakfast and MRC Certification Course Roll-out
8:30 am - 12:00 pm Exhibits Open

9:15 am - 10:30 am BREAKOUT SESSIONS:
RECYCLING IN MANUFACTURING AND THE CORPORATE OFFICE
Presented by: Bill Gurn, Haworth, Inc.
This session will focus on starting that recycling program in your place of business. Issues addressed include picking a “recycling” champion, handling materials, finding a market, tracking material, auditing for improvement, moving forward and reporting results.

ENHANCING CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS
THROUGH ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
Presented by: Beth Clawson, MSU Extension, Van Buren County
Use problem solving strategies, utilizing readily available materials, in your environmental lessons so that students who live and work in the challenge of our ever-changing society develop essential critical thinking skills. Students must make choices, evaluate a barrage of commercials, and discern the truth about being targets of marketing campaigns. They must be able to make judgments about and assess information, understand how to use their information and how to develop plans for action.

10:45 am - 12:00 pm ROUNDTABLE SESSIONS:
OUTSIDE THE BIN -
RESIDENTIAL PAINT RECYCLING
Presented by: Monica Duebbert, Mid Michigan Waste Authority
Across the nation, thousands of gallons of old paint are discarded into trashcans and and poured down drains each year. Mid Michigan Waste Authority (MMWA) established residential paint collection program with eight Saginaw Valley partners, including paint retailers, government and a non-profit. MMWA will share the design, challenges and successes of the Paint ReNew program, now in its fourth year.

STOP, DROP & RECYCLE. EFFECTIVE PUBLIC AREA RECYCLING
Presented by: Sarah Archer, Iris Waste Diversion Specialists
In 2007, Mid Michigan Waste Authority implemented a recycling program for the Children's Zoo at Celebration Square in Saginaw. The high visibility program not only offers recycling to zoo visitors, but also educates about recycling benefits. MMWA Contractor Sarah Archer will share practical tips for working in partnership with public venues to make recycling visible, functional and educational.

12:00 pm Conference Adjourns

Exhibitor & Sponsorship Brochure
Exhibitor & Sponsorship Form
Attendee Brochure
Attendee Registration Form

©Michigan Recycling Coalition PO Box 10070, Lansing, MI 48901 info@michiganrecycles.org 517-974-3MRC (3672)