ERIC Sprints Into Action

You’d never know from the looks of it yesterday that ERIC (the Education Recycling Information Center) was on the fast track. The mascot is a cute turtle, after all. This mobile educational unit of the City of Tempe Solid Waste Services Department was unveiled on Wednesday, 7/1/09 in front of 50 or so government and community education leaders from around the Valley and the state.

ERIC makes his debut

The center will make the rounds to community events and schools to teach kids big and small about recycling, it’s impact, and what happens with recycled materials. The City of Tempe and ADEQ funded the unit. Quality Vans managed the project and fabricated the trailer with educational displays designed and fabricated by Nicomia, materials and technology consulting by a.k.a. Green Services, and a range of services provided by others.

ERIC's shell introduces visitors to a range of recycled materials

The unit itself is an example of walking the turtle talk. In order to keep power consumption low, tubular skylights light up the interior (donated by Velux) and innovative reflector spot CFL bulbs are used in tracklighting to light the displays. Compact LED can lights in the tight ceiling provide space lighting on overcast days. So, not only is the lighting extremely energy efficient, but it adds very little heat load to the inside space.

The flooring is recycled rubber Nike Grind from old shoes, donated by Nike. Ground cork provides a warm ceiling tile. The interior wood is FSC-certified and has no added-urea formaldehyde, and the adhesives and sealers are low VOC.

Visitors learn from hands-on, visual displays

The project was running on a fast track in order to meet an ADEQ end of year deadline, but you would never know it based upon the stellar outcome. We are proud to have participated in this important community education tool and look forward to seeing ERIC at upcoming events.

~ by akagreen on July 2, 2009.