Protecting native lands from modern waste: Larry Zirkle of total reclaim teaches villagers better ways to deal with hazardous materials.

AuthorOrr, Vanessa
PositionABM'S 2007 ENVIRONMENTAL SPECIAL SECTION

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When Larry Zirkle first watched the video Exporting Harm: the High-Tech Trashing of Asia, he thought that the images of tires, refrigerators and computer waste scattered across the land looked familiar. But it wasn't a view that he remembered from a trip overseas; it was what he saw when he traveled through remote Alaska villages as part of his job for Total Reclaim.

"I travel to rural Alaska to teach villagers how to remove refrigerant from refrigerators," explained Zirkle of his job as a CFC (chlorofluorocarbon) trainer. "What I saw was often gut-wrenching; metal waste, honey buckets, animal carcasses, computers, and refrigerators--all just dumped together on open ground. In some cases, the waste was being burned, which released even more toxins into the air.

"People thought that they were doing the right thing," he added. "For thousands of years, villagers have been taught to bury their waste material or put it near the water to be washed away. When this was all organic matter, there wasn't a problem. But now that they're dealing with a different type of waste, they run the risk of releasing high levels of mercury, lead and fecal bacteria into surrounding rivers."

Zirkle, with the help of Total Reclaim, has taken it upon himself to visit Alaska villages and provide education on proper waste disposal. Because so many of the villages are remote and not reachable by road, even disposal of recyclable waste can be an almost insurmountable problem.

"When you're a fly-in community with no roads, transporting recyclables can be very expensive," explained Nina Shestakovich, environmental program manager for the Maniilaq Association, a tribal consortium in the Northwest Arctic. "Larry has been extremely helpful in providing information on logistics, such as where our recyclables can be shipped to, and in helping us find pricing we can afford. He is extremely generous with his time, and has worked very closely with us to establish a regional backhaul and recycling program."

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Zirkle, who is part Mexican, Irish and Cherokee Indian, worked in the corporate world for many years before deciding that he wanted to make a change. "I was in tune with corporate America, but not in tune with my surroundings," said Zirkle, who joined Total Reclaim, which is owned by his brother Jeff, about three years ago. Total Reclaim Inc. specializes in environmentally sound management and recycling of electronics, lamps...

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