Local Mom Cleans Rooms…and Forests
Julie Lockman, Executive Director of Clean Forest Project
Julie Lockman is a joyful woman with an impossibly bright smile and a schedule that would make most people tremble with fear. She’s the lead singer for River City RnB, a wife, a soccer mom, and now the executive director of the Clean Forest Project.
A name like Clean Forest Project is self explanatory. The groups goes out and cleans areas of the forest. Why? Because it’s filthy. David and Julie have four children who like to go camping with their father, but the family found themselves picking up trash almost everywhere they went. This continued happening, so they decided it was time to do something about it. They formed Clean Forest Project towards the end of 2007 and hope that news of this non profit organization will reach businesses and concerned citizens. Many don’t realize how widespread the problem is. This isn’t a few fast food cups or a bag of garbage here and there. What Julie’s family and their occasional volunteers find are mounds upon mounds of nasty trash, electronics, furniture, and even appliances and cars. One of their more recent finds is a dumped trailer.
What many of the people doing this don’t seem to realize is that there are places to get rid of unwanted goods or trash for free. Once a year during spring, yard waste such as branches, grass, leaves, and other vegetation is collected and recycled at no charge to city residents. There is a free drop off day yearly at Merlin Transfer for one cubic yard of household garbage, and a yearly free drop off day for latex paints. These are usually posted on http://www.GrantsPass.com, or call your local recycling center for more information. Regular household waste, such as newspapers, glass bottles, milk jugs, tin cans, and cardboard can be taken to the recycling center at 1381 Redwood Ave. for absolutely no charge. If you have a vehicle to junk, Peach Street Auto Recycling will come and get your vehicle, title or no title, for free. Simply call their tower (Bulldog Towing) at 541-955-9600. Some places, such as Cascade Metal Recycling at 700 Merlin Road, will even pay for items such as brass, copper, aluminum, and stainless steel.
Unfortunately, many people are either unaware that these options exist, or simply choose instead to litter forests with waste products. Clean Forest Project seeks to address the issue of illegal dumping in our forests. They believe that not only is the natural beauty of our area destroyed by such actions, it can also be dangerous to the land, wildlife, and residents because so many items are hazardous waste products, such as paint and household appliances. Items such as refrigerators, air conditioners, and dehumidifiers contain hazardous components, and not disposing of them properly can be detrimental to forest plants, wildlife, and can contaminate our water.
This massive problem turns into quite a bit of work for Mrs. Lockman and her family. She keeps a notebook of all reports that come into her website, and they come in weekly. They are determined to clean up every site reported, but they literally have hundreds of them reported. Currently, the Lockman’s pay for the clean-ups out of their own pockets. Because of budget cut-backs, Land Management agencies are looking to public organizations such as Clean Forest Project for help, and the family has joined the Bureau of Land Management for clean up projects and will continue to do so. However, this is more than a one family job. More volunteers are needed. Another need is financial help. While as much is recycled as possible, there are still costs involved with hauling materials and fees for taking items such as televisions, mattresses, and furniture to legal dump sites. The project hopes to receive grants to help with costs, they also need the people of the community to help out. Donation and membership information is available at their website. If enough funds are raised, Clean Forest Project will be able to expand their education program, going to different schools in order to present the next generation with environmental information, with the hopes of reducing the problem in the coming years.
It’s time for the community of Grants Pass to pitch in and help keep our area safe and clean. We live in a beautiful environment, and it deserves to be cared for and preserved. To team up with the Clean Forest Project by offering your physical or financial help or to report a dump site, please visit http://cleanforestproject.org/ - Gina Locke
