by Ken Quintanilla
Guam - Hoping
to not only educate on its harmful effects to the environment but helping them
property dispose of used cooking and motor oil, the Dededo Mayor's Office along
with several partners held a pilot project that island residents may soon see
in their villages as well. This past weekend, the Dededo Mayor's Office along
with GRESCO and the University
of Guam's Green Army provided
island residents with an outlet to properly dispose of their used cooking and
motor oil through a new pilot program.
Dededo mayor Melissa
Savares told KUAM News, "What is happening is that our residents are given
the opportunity today to bring up to five gallons of cooking oil or motor oil
that they have lying around in their homes. UOG's Green Army helped with
surveys and asking residents and GRESCO who is here to take the oil, a business
partner that is recycling the oil for renewable energy."
Savares says
that it is important that everyone knows how and where to properly dispose of
the oil and not letting it leak into ground waters or the island's aquifers,
which is an important resource for our families.
UOG Center for Island
Sustainability Program Coordinator Elvie Tyler said, "This is also UOG's Green
Initiative that we are now getting outside of our UOG fence and entering the
community and assist all the villages as they promote recycling for waste oil
and motor oil in their village."
GRESCO's Angela
Rosario says that the company is geared towards reducing the carbon footprint
on Guam, adding, "What we do is take all
the motor oil and all the cooking oil and we take it back and refine it at our
refinery in Agat. We recycle everything we receive, we don't dump it, we don't
ship it, everything is recycled and we put it back in the island."
Mayor Savares
says this will happen islandwide and is just the beginning of several programs
planned with waste oil collection. For more information about the pilot
project, you can contact the Dededo Mayor's Office at 632-5203 or the Mayors
Council of Guam at 472-6940.
