AJC.com > Iraq coverage > Blog > Archives > 2005 > October > 25 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USGeorgia soldier fights war on waste
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Camp Taji, Iraq — He might well be the only Georgia soldier in Iraq who’s armed with a spoon. Plastic at that.
Bita Honarvar/AJC
Capt. Lane carries his plastic Georgia Bulldogs cup, which he uses to cut down on waste.
In Capt. Andrew Lane’s right calf pocket are least four spoons — two white ones from the Camp Taji dining hall and two standard issue brown spoons that come with the Army’s Meals Ready to Eat. He carries them everywhere along with his flak jacket, helmet and M-16 rifle.
Lane, 32, assigned to the 118th Field Artillery Regiment’s 1st Battalion, arrived in Iraq in early June. Since then, he has been waging a personal war to conserve energy, limit waste and promote personal well-being at this camp north of Baghdad.
When he sees outside lights on during daylight hours, he rushes to switch them off. He turns off dripping faucets in the latrines.
Besides the spoons, which he reuses for his meals, Lane carries a 16-ounce Georgia Bulldogs plastic cup because the waxed paper cups at the dining halls are small and wasteful. He takes the salt and pepper packets from other soldiers’ MRE packets and adds them to what’s already on the tables.
The amount of food, plastic utensils and aluminum soda cans that ends up in the massive green trash bins are cause for sleepless nights for Lane. There’s no recycling at the military bases in Iraq.
“Just think,” he said. “By the end of my career, I will have saved the Army thousands of dollars in plasticware.”
“Most people in the military don’t think about these things,” he continued. “They should. And how great would it be to get the Iraqi people to start thinking about recycling.”
Efficiency is his business
Back home in Athens, Lane, a former police officer at the University of Georgia, works for a program jointly run by Southface Energy Institute and Jackson Electric Membership Corporation. His job is to inspect new homes for energy efficiency.
He childproofed the electrical outlets in his home even before son Christopher was born two years ago because the holes in the sockets allow cold air to seep in during the winter.
Bita Honarvar/AJC
Lane speaks with Maj. David Weis, 3rd Infantry Division Aviation Brigade public affairs officer, at a Camp Taji dining hall.
In Athens, Lane rarely drives his car; he bikes to most places and is chagrined to admit that his wife, Franchesca, drives a sport utility vehicle. He likes to listen to his dual-powered radio, which runs on a solar panel by day and a hand-cranked windup battery at night.
It’s easy to spot Lane in public places on the base. While other soldiers are in their gray Army T-shirts and black shorts, Lane is wearing 40 pounds of full body armor and his Kevlar helmet no matter how hot it gets.
Soldiers are not required to wear body armor or helmets inside the gates of large camps such as Taji, Liberty and Striker.
But the pragmatist in Lane dictates that safety comes first at all times, even when he’s taking his early morning walk.
“We’re in a war zone,” he said. “People are trying to kill us. I wear all this for the same reason you wear safety belts in a car.”
It’s also why Lane often eats lunch and dinner at odd hours, when the cafeteria is nearly empty.
“Why blow up 20 people when you can get 500?” he said.
A family man
Soldiers are perplexed by Lane. Some dismiss him as a “strange dude.” But most have come to embrace his self-professed oddities.
“He wears more body armor in [the dining facility] than we do when we’re out on patrol,” said 1st Lt. David Disi of a Rhode Island infantry company that is attached to the 118th.
The burly, blond Lane stands to win a $20 bet if he can go through the entire yearlong deployment in full armor. As one soldier pointed out, Lane has made it through the sweltering summer months in Iraq. The rest of the time should be a relative breeze.
Lane is first and foremost a family man — his son Christopher is the main reason he stayed in the Georgia Army National Guard. He wanted “to put food on the table” for his family.
But he also believes strongly in the war on terrorism.
“I stayed in so I could help make the bad people go away,” Lane said. “Iraq seems to be a magnet for bad people.”
But saving the planet for generations to come is Lane’s second passion.
He began small — collecting aluminum cans on campus and recycling them, earning about $150 a month. Later, at Fort Benning, he took extra food that would have been thrown away to a local battered women’s shelter. He collected recyclables and took the long way back to the barracks to dump them at the PX recycling center.
“To throw away packaged food when people are hungry, it’s crazy,” Lane said.
Lane admits his military career sometimes puts him at odds with environmentalists.
“Sometimes I have to tell them, ‘Hey, I’m on your side,’ ” Lane said. “Just because I’m in this uniform, doesn’t mean I’m some sort of Nazi.”
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By Jenny
October 25, 2005 09:13 AM | Link to this
Talk about going above and beyond the call of duty! I think this is a great story, and CPT Lane deserves a pat on the back!
By Mona
October 25, 2005 09:53 AM | Link to this
I think it is great to recycle. I think Capt. Lane has it right on both fronts. He is doing his part to make the world a better place for future generations in uniform and out. Thanks.
By Delighted
October 25, 2005 10:44 AM | Link to this
What a great guy and a great article. Cpt. Lane is an example for the entire military and deserves a lot of credit. His son is lucky to have such a good example-setting father.
By Civilians, too
October 25, 2005 12:49 PM | Link to this
CPT Lane sets an example for civilians to follow, too. Conserve gas, food, utilities, etc. Saves the environment and saves money. Keep up the good work, Captain, maybe some of the other soldiers will follow suit and maybe some of us civilians will, too. God bless you and your efforts. May Angels surround you. God bless all our military.
By Dawn
October 26, 2005 01:04 AM | Link to this
Way to go! Another prime example that Georgia National Guard is the best of the best. Miss you guys come home safe.
By kirsten schoonover
October 26, 2005 03:28 PM | Link to this
Capt. Lane, Let who ever is the head of the village there around the base know that recycling is a major part of being free. As one Iraqi national stated that is what he wants is “freedom”. If you need information to show your superiors about how recycling can help let me know. My company is a major recycler of waste products. I can send you e-information to share. A recycler from Minnesota.
By Franchesca Lane
October 26, 2005 03:56 PM | Link to this
Thanks to everyone who has commented on this article about my husband. From the day I met him, I knew he was a disciplined indivdual that would make a great husband, father and a man everyone would remember (and love)! Thank you for taking all precautions while you are away and not adding to the trash problem in Iraq. We walked to church this past Sunday!!! I love you always.
By Robert
October 27, 2005 09:42 AM | Link to this
Good for you CPT Lane. I too try not to waste anything and I reuse alot of things myself. Especially those nice army plastic spoons.
Robert the Recycler!
By SSG John R. Brightsen
October 29, 2005 04:32 PM | Link to this
I will be deployimng to Taji Iraq in 2005/then to Taji by 2006 Fort Hood Texas and will be replacing the Unit on the ground…. Good Luck until then….