Mechanic Realizes His ‘Greening’ Goal
It was a contraption called a water-based parts washer that helped Albert Orellana realize his years-long goal.
He already recycled oil. He sent off air filters to be mashed up into new products. He even reused paper towels. But the acquisition of the parts washer, this $1,600 machine that cleans the day-to-day grease on pistons and rods without toxic gasoline solvents--that was the clincher. Orellana, a mechanic who keeps 40 vehicles running for the state Parks Department’s Central Coast Division, now believes he runs an entirely “green” shop.
Last month, the new machine joined the ranks of recycled antifreeze, re-refined oil, reused bolts and Baggies at the Ventura maintenance yard to become the final piece in Orellana’s dream. “I realized I was at a landmark point in my life,” he said. “It’s been a lifelong thing of mine.”
As the state and counties tighten environmental controls, mechanics across the state have been required to do everything from recycle oil filters to use water-based paints. But few seem to have gone to the length--or have the enthusiasm--for the environment as Orellana.
While others meet the bare minimum, few hit the complete list of recyclables as he does. Off the top of his head, he said, the materials he recycles include: aluminum, steel, cardboard, tires, paper, oil, coolant, batteries, plastics, glass and tin.
“He’s sort of out there on his own,” said Tyrone Smith, a pollution prevention specialist with the state’s Department of Toxic Substances Control. “There’s a lot of shops that do it to varying degrees, but it takes a lot of commitment to close all the loops.”
Everything that can be recycled is recycled, Orellana thinks. Everything that can be cleaner, he says, now is. Even the paper towels are used again. On the dispenser he has posted a sign warning employees only to use the towels only when absolutely necessary--he had noticed too many in the trash can.
And, of course, there’s the newest item, the clincher in Orellana’s eyes. The parts washers are already de rigueur in Los Angeles County--required there because solvents can send toxic gas into the air or rivulets of waste into ocean-bound gutters. But that isn’t the case in Ventura County, where air pollution worries aren’t as great.
The mechanic, after years working in private auto shops from Alaska to Oregon to Ventura County, has finally landed in a place where the terms “mechanic” and “environmentalist” are not mutually exclusive.
It’s the perfect meeting of his worlds, he says: He can sate both his environmental leanings and his love of tinkering.
At his other jobs, his co-workers didn’t see him as an eco-freak, exactly. They just weren’t so appreciative of his enthusiasm.
“In the trades, I was always ‘that environmentalist,’ ” he said, smiling behind tinted dark shades. “They don’t mind if you do it, they just weren’t quick to join in.”
They figured, “it was just part of Albert being Albert,” he added.
And that part of Albert being Albert, a cheerful taskmaster for the environment, has been with him since his childhood in Guatemala, through an ecology club in high school, and on through all those jobs where he did the extra work of recycling because nobody else cared so much.
It isn’t always so convenient to take the extra time, but it’s not so hard either, Orellana said. It takes space, for big drums of antifreeze and barrels of scrap metal, and some willing partners who will pick up recyclables.
It’s becoming increasingly common to recycle antifreeze, he says. Re-refined oil, too, is easy to get your hands on. And it saves him money. It’s just about being open to the opportunities to recycle that are out there.
And, it’s about making a commitment, said John Katz, a pollution prevention coordinator for the state Environmental Protection Agency. “It’s not like you can’t find ways to be greener,” Katz said. “It’s time and inclination.”
