Tinker Pride Day: keeping it green

Published May 13, 2011
By Brion Ockenfels

Tinker Public Affairs -- Today has been designated by Col. Bob LaBrutta, 72nd Air Base Wing and Tinker installation commander, as a day of installation stewardship.

"It's always important for those lucky enough to work and live on base to take pride in taking care of our grounds and facilities," Col. LaBrutta said. "This is our way to directly contribute and make a positive difference for our quality of life!"

The "Tinker Pride Day," a base-wide cleanup, will take place today from 7:30 to 11 a.m. Organizations are asking to have personnel out picking up trash and debris in their assigned area to enhance base appearance improving the quality of our life. Each organization is asked to provide adequate gloves, trash bags, bottled water and any other items needed for the cleanup.

Once trash bags are filled, they should be deposited in one of the dumpsters in the assigned area. Immediately following the cleanup, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Balfour Beatty will provide lunch (hotdogs, hamburgers, chips and drinks) for the cleanup volunteers at the large pavilion west of the golf course.

While picking up litter and sprucing up our base, Team Tinker volunteers could potentially encounter misplaced materials such as: fluorescent bulbs, old paints, lubricants or other materials and substances not considered yard waste, trash or litter. These items need special handling and should not be put in into dumpsters.

Keeping our corner of America beautiful also means Team Tinker needs to dispose of hazardous waste in harmony with environmental laws.

Each unit has a Unit Environmental Coordinator who is trained in many of the environmental requirements.

A current list of Team Tinker environmental coordinators is found on the 72nd Civil Engineering Directorate's Air Force Portal page.

Making it easy to recycle at Tinker

Tinker's Recycling Drop Off Center is located north of the Gott Gate just west of Air Depot Boulevard and the drop-off is open 24 hours per day, seven days a week. Materials accepted include, plastics No. 1 and 2 only, aluminum beverage cans, tin cans, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, cardboard, newspaper, magazine, white printer paper. Go to http://tinkerliving.com/ Recycling/recycling.php for more information about the qualified Recycling Program.

For white paper pick-up in work centers, the recycling center staff will pick it up for you. To participate in white paper recycling or to schedule a pick-up, call 739-3610.

Household Hazardous Waste for Tinker AFB base residents only: Used motor oil, oil filters, batteries, antifreeze, paints, pesticides, fertilizers, CFL and florescent light bulbs and other household hazardous waste items can be turned into Oklahoma City's Household Hazardous Waste Collection site located at 1621 S. Portland Ave. Hours are 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Saturdays.

The center is free to Oklahoma City residents. If you live on Tinker AFB, an active duty military identification card in lieu of an OKC water bill will allow you to use the service. For a complete list of acceptable HHHW items or more information, log on tohttp://www.okc.gov/services/hh_waste/index.html or call 682-7038.

The OKC HHHW Collection Facility does not accept tires, e-waste, broken or unwanted computer screens, keyboards, CPU's and printers, refrigerators, biomedical, ammunition and radioactive or commercial waste.

Keep the date: Oklahoma City will sponsor a special hazardous waste collection day at the State Fair Grounds Oct. 15 for the following types of waste: Prescription drugs, tires, ammunition and E-waste to include broken or unwanted computer screens, keyboards, CPU's and printers.

If you don't live on base or Oklahoma City, contact your municipality to find out how you can recycle and dispose of household hazardous waste properly.