gallon). When the bottles are returned to their place of purchase, they are picked up by Genesis and transported back to the cooperative for washing and sanitation, not unlike the Lochmead dairy process. But the bottles are not uniform in size or style. Genesis uses glass containers that would otherwise be broken up into cullet for recycling, and will fill any used bottle that fits their specifications for volume and lid size. Many of these bottles are generously gathered by workers at a local non-profit recycling program, BRING, which brings in around two tons of used glass a week. Genesis uses an old 5-wide bottle washer built to clean a wide variety of containers. It can wash over 1500 in one day. According to Bill Weigand, the cooperative’s coordinator, at first the glass was washed in a triple stainless steel sink, using sundry devices to clean the crevasses of the used bottles. The new mechanical washer became necessary when production increased to around 160 cases of bottles a week. Today Genesis Juice supplies many natural food stores, local Safeway supermarkets, convenience stores and delis. Genesis doesn’t just promote a closed loop process of refilling, it actively saves bottles from the energy-intensive process of recycling. Stewart’s Dairy of Saratoga, New York has actively promoted reuse since 1981 by selling all of its milk, soft drinks, and beer in refillable containers at its 186 locations Opposite, top left, moving counter-clockwise: After unpacking the dirty bottles, Jen puts them on Bertha's feeder, which can give a ride to containers of many sizes. They come out near a bright light, so Jen can checkfor spots. Bertha must be stopped occasionally to remove pulped labels and juice guck. This page, above left, moving clockwise: Sometimes Bertha needs a pull to get her going again. Lesly examines Bertha's work to see if anything was missed. She then uses a wooden chopstick, which gets better at the job as it wears down, to clean out the crevices. The bottle is of course then sterilized again. rPuTUP'lH-'CLEHH'CLEHF S-TOTALty ^ jfECYCLABLE’' (^LASS'-BOTTX^^-"^ RAIN Spring 1993 Volume XIV, Number 3 Page 27
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