For over 1,000 years the remote village of Supai, Arizona, located eight miles’ hike below the rim of the Grand Canyon, has been home to the Havasu Baaja, People of the Blue Green Waters, or, as they are known today, the Havasupai Tribe. Just above the village, a hidden limestone aquifer gushes forth the life-sustaining blue-green waters that have nourished the fields of corn, squash and beans which have allowed the Havasu Baaja to thrive living in the harsh desert landscape deep in the Grand Canyon for centuries. This remoteness creates many obstacles for residents and visitors alike. The United States Postal Service office in Supai transports all mail in and out of the canyon by mule train. Everything must make the 8-mile trek in and out of the village either by foot, on horseback, or by helicopter. — theofficialhavasupaitribe.com
Improving Solid Waste Practices Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) staff worked with the Havasupai Tribe under the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Development Solid Waste (USDA RDSW) grant. The Tribe reached out to RCAC for and technical assistance in developing best solid waste practices to reduce waste and solid waste transportation costs, increase recycling, improve community outreach and education, improve operator health and safety training, and provide for the basic transfer of operations and maintenance. RCAC staff developed a plan as part of the USDA RDSW grant to achieve these objectives. Currently, the only way to transport solid waste out of the village is by helicopter, which is costly. This method has challenges due to the limited weight allowed for each “helicopter sling,” the netting attached to the helicopter to lift out waste (Figures 3-8). Waste transport is usually conducted every other Wednesday, weather permitting, and the load weight is restricted to 1,000 pounds. In the past, the Tribe hired households to use their horses and mules to pack waste out of the canyon (Figure 2); however, this mode of transportation had to be stopped due to potential cross-contamination of non-waste items packed down to the village on the same horse/mule tack that brought the waste up. It is not the practice to return the mule or horse tack to the village “empty,” as this would be considered a waste of resources. The local solid waste management utility process now requires each household to have supersacks, instead of traditional trash bins, set up along the village’s narrow dirt roads, which are used by people traveling on foot, horse, and all-terrain vehicles. There are no cars or trucks in the village. The supersacks are collected and brought to the transfer station for staging for the next sling and for sorting out recyclables. Through this grant, RCAC is training and advocating for the Tribe to begin the sorting of recyclables at the household level.
Recommendations RCAC recommends outreach to households to educate them about using blue supersacks for recyclables and white supersacks for household trash. Blue and white supersacks are already a pickup service but also allow for self-haul. Local businesses break down, separate, and stage cardboard in large piles for the next helicopter sling. RCAC recommends using cardboard balers to improve preparation for the helicopter slings; this includes a compactor and baler for plastics and aluminum. Having recyclables compacted and baled will be more efficient and safer during sling operations.
22 2022, ISSUE 3
Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator