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Southern Oregon Subaru in Medford, OR, has a secret weapon when it comes to recycling. His name is Rocky Rawstern, and he’s a recycling master—literally. Rawstern is SOSubaru’s digital media manager and a Jackson County Master Recycler.
To earn the title of master recycler, Rawstern completed a 10-week training program through the Jackson County Recycling Partnership. It requires 30 hours of service, weekly classes and even field trips to a nearby landfill and composting facility.
The Eco-Friendly Retailer (EFR) team recently interviewed the waste prevention guru and asked Rawstern (RR) about SOSubaru’s recycling program, solar power and green plans for the future.
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Rocky Rawstern, digital media manager at SOSubaru and certified master recycler, volunteers at a 2015 community event designed to collect hard-to-recycle plastics.
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EFR: What drove you to join the Jackson County Master Recyclers (JCMR)?
RR: A desire to leave less of a personal footprint on this earth for future generations and to go a bit further by finding ways to help others learn how to lessen theirs.
EFR: How has your involvement with JCMR impacted eco-friendly efforts at your workplace? Were you instrumental in helping Southern Oregon Subaru obtain Eco-Friendly Retailer designation?
RR: Getting certified as a master recycler directly lead to giving our store the educated resource needed to more easily complete the Eco-Friendly Retailer certification, which in turn helped us find new ways to recycle and reduce, while at the same time saving money. Our Green Team meets monthly to discuss ideas and fine-tune existing recycling efforts.
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 Rawstern leads SOSubaru’s green team, which includes associates from each department within the organization. The group meets monthly to discuss progress on eco-friendly efforts.
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EFR: Can you share some of the creative or non-traditional practices you've implemented to reduce consumption and increase recycling efforts?
RR: We placed recycle bins all around the dealership so that customers and staff can recycle many of the things that were formerly being thrown away. For our “island lawns,” we installed low-flow, high-efficiency sprinklers that emit 2/3 less water, and we reduced the watering time and switched to watering only at night, minimizing the amount of water we use. Doing this has resulted in lowering the cost of watering, and virtually eliminating the chance that any run-off reaches the local watershed. We also take all yard debris (lawn clippings and tree pruning debris) to Rogue Disposal where it is turned into OMRI-certified compost.
EFR: How do employees at SOSubaru balance the day-to-day retailer workload as well as additional eco-friendly responsibilities such as recycling?
RR: Recycling is built right into our processes. Unbox a part? Put the cardboard right into the cardboard recycle bin. Don’t need a paper report? Either drop it in the recycle bin, or shred it for later collection and recycling. Pallets stacking up out back? Employees take them home for reuse or to dismantle and use for fire wood. We are constantly finding ways to reduce, renew, reuse and recycle.
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With a master recycler on staff and a dedicated green team,
SOSubaru diverts the following materials from local landfills
through recycling and reuse:
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- Waste paper
- Used Coolant
- Soft and hard plastics
- Fluorescent bulbs
- Solvents
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- Oily Rags
- Soda Cans
- Scrap metal
- Cardboard
- Grass clippings
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- Tires
- Batteries
- Used Oil
- Pallets
- Yard debris
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EFR: SOSubaru added a solar PV system in 2012. Can you share a little about how much the system produces and what percentage of your overall electric usage it offsets?
RR: Of course, it is only on peak sun days that our 9.1kW system produces the full amount. Over the course of the year we calculated that it offsets around 6 percent of our electric consumption.
EFR: SOSubaru is an Energy Star Partner, a commitment that requires tracking energy performance, implementing improvement plans and educating personnel. Has this partnership been beneficial to your organization? Would you recommend other retailers become partners?
RR: Sure, because it gives a dealer a better sense of expenses, which illuminates areas that can be adjusted.
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SOSubaru’s roof-top solar array was added in 2012 and helps reduce energy consumption.
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EFR: What green programs are on the horizon for your dealership?
RR: We are investigating switching over to native plants for the islands on our lot. We are also looking for other ways to support JCMR in their recycling events and educational events. We recently engaged the services of Energy Trust of Oregon to do a site inspection and found several areas that we can fine tune, saving us money and reducing our impact on the environment.
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Recycling Resources
- Wondering where you can recycle specific items in your community? Visit earth911.com. Enter your ZIP code and the material you wish to recycle to get a list of locations near you.
- Interested in joining a recycling organization in your state? The Glass Packaging Institute has a comprehensive list of state recycling organizations (SROs). Find yours and see how you can get involved.
- Want to become a master like Rawstern? Contact your local recycling organization or SRO to find out if there’s a master recycler program near you.
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