DIANE MAKAR MURPHY YSU's 'Waste not, want not' motto reaches out

How much space would eight tons -- 16,000 pounds -- of computers, monitors, and keyboards take up in a landfill?
Such questions used to bother Jim Petuch, Youngstown State University's recycling manager. Since the creation of Re:CREATE, however, he's got more important questions on his mind. Like, who wants what someone else doesn't?
Just this year, the group managed to keep more than eight tons of electronics out of the dump by donating YSU's castoffs to nonprofit agencies such as Meridian Services. And its success doesn't stop there.
In the past month, Boardman High School received four orchestra kettledrums. The Rayen School got 10 sewing machines, nine tables, metal cases, chairs, school desks and overhead projectors. And the Children's Rainbow Preschool, Warren, received paints and art supplies, a record player, a filing cabinet and supplies generated by a private company discovered by Re:CREATE.
Appreciation
"It's a great program," said Henrietta Williams, Rayen's principal. "It makes a nice addition to what we already have. Our guidance counselor is looking into getting other things, in fact."
The program started in 1999. Petuch headed it for two years as a Mahoning County employee and the last year as a YSU employee. "Our goal was to divert stuff from landfills. I'm not anti-landfill, but they have problems of their own," Petuch said.
He cited methane gas emissions, landslides and leeching into groundwater as possible problems. "Obviously, landfills are a necessity, but anything we can do to prevent problems is good."
Petuch's office is tucked into a YSU building, where students manage to find him to address problems. He greets them happily like a coach rallying a team. "Thanks for your hard work!" is a common remark. Petuch is a small, slim man, far outsized by his enthusiasm.
"We have five students working on the recycling for the university and one for Re:CREATE," he said.
Before 1999, a lot of what now is redistributed through the program ended up in storage or worse. "I remember seeing a computer monitor in a trash bin, and I thought, this will not happen again," Petuch said. The new campus policy is to find homes for all the unneeded or outdated electronics or, as a last resort, to recycle the parts via a program in which inmates at the federal prison in Elkton disassemble the units.
"Our definition of scrap is pretty loose, though," Petuch said. "I have one teacher who takes just the keyboards because she uses them to teach the ABC's. To her, the units aren't scrap."
Miraculous job
Sarah Ellis, a Boardman graduate and now YSU junior, does the miraculous job of diverting 60 to 100 cubic yards of materials a week. And she does so in just 10 hours a week. Recently, the Youngstown Home School Association benefited from her efforts, receiving tables, desks, theater flats, art supplies, wallpaper books and other items.
Recipients must be nonprofit organizations or schools, said Petuch, who added that the program is a university community outreach. "We start out trying to find out who needs what," he said. "Then we act as the communication link." For example, when a preschool called Re:CREATE looking for carpet squares, they found a carpet store in town with surplus squares. Since Re:CREATE's storage space is limited, Petuch usually tries to make the exchanges without storing items.
And, of course, Re:CREATE also redistributes materials on campus. But what isn't needed by anyone at YSU is often wanted in the community, Petuch said. "It's equally important to me to save groups money and to keep things out of the landfill. Our motto is reduce, reuse first, then recycle."
As Williams noted, "One man's junk is another man's jewels."
murphy@vindy.com