Grants In Action

Tillamook County: Conservation Action Resource Team of Manzanita (CART'M) - Recycling/Reuse Center, Manzanita

What we are doing?

CART'M is a recycling and reuse center located between Manzanita and Nehalem near Nehalem Bay State Park on the north Oregon coast. It is run by a non-profit community organization that also runs the Manzanita Transfer Station (“the dump”), where it is located. CART’M has a donation center that accepts about 35 categories of recyclable materials, including electronics, motor oil and batteries. It contracts with Trails End Recovery to manage yard and construction debris. CART’M sells a wide range of building materials, including paint, lumber, cabinets, plumbing fixtures, tools, hardware and wood scrap for firewood and kindling. The resale store sells everything from books and toys to household items and furniture. Most of these items were rescued from dump loads or were brought to the center and donated by community members.

Who is involved?

CART’M has an executive director and other paid staff but uses volunteers extensively. It works with contractors to sort and bring usable building materials as well as traditional recyclables to the resale store. Building departments for Tillamook County and the cities of Manzanita, Nehalem and Wheeler include CART’M fliers with building permits and fliers are also available at the two local building supply stores. Some contractors come from other coastal communities, and an increasing number come to CART’M first for used or specialized items, often at the request of an environmentally concerned client.

Why we are doing it

Requests from contractors were one of the inspirations for the creation of CART’M. Local “green” builders were frustrated at the usable materials they saw being wasted, especially when old buildings were torn down to make room for new beach houses. In 1996, construction wastes comprised almost 15 percent of Tillamook County’s total waste. This number was higher in the north end of the county (the Manzanita area), where the building rate was three times higher than the rest of the county. In addition, some construction and demolition wastes were being burned. Before CART’M opened, the nearest recycling opportunities were 25 miles away, to the north in Seaside or south in Tillamook.

To help address this problem, several builders volunteered to serve on a task force to design the building materials reuse project. A $30,000 grant from DEQ provided start-up and first-year operating funds for collecting and reselling building materials. Other funding came from Tillamook County, state lottery economic development funds, and private foundations.

In addition to finding homes for building materials and other resale items, CART’M has also become known for its trash art shows and workshops. At the first show in May 1999, 50 artists of all ages submitted 80 pieces, and more than 300 people attended (population of the Manzanita area was then 3,000). In 2009, approximately 1,000 people attended the annual Trash Bash. Several grants from the Oregon Arts Commission’s Arts Build Community Program have supported this program.

Total Project Cost

The CART’M recycling center opened in December 1998 after raising $350,000 for construction, equipment and first-year operating costs from local government and community contributions, as well as state and private grants. In 1996 the DEQ Solid Waste Program awarded the City of Manzanita two grants to plan for expansion of the CART’M recycling depot ($7,000) and to conduct an education and promotion campaign ($4,000) about the expanded program. A DEQ solid waste grant in 1997 to Tillamook County provided $50,000 for purchase of a baler and recycling bins. In 1998, another DEQ solid waste grant to Tillamook County provided $30,000 for staff, equipment, supplies and educational workshop costs for the CART’M building materials reuse program for contractors. A 2005 DEQ grant for $30,675 was used to purchase equipment to help expand the organics collection program.

CART'M is presently supported by transfer station revenues, the sale of recyclable materials and reuse items and continuing local contributions. Besides providing a vital reuse component to the operation, the resale store is making it possible for the center to survive financially. About $33,000 worth of materials were sold out of the store in the first year of operation; $100,000 in the first two years. The resale store grossed approximately $124,000 in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009.

For more information about CART’M, go to www.cartm.org or call 503-368-7764. More information about the Tillamook County Solid Waste Department is at www.co.tillamook.or.us/gov/solidwaste/default.htm.

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