Continuing my Texas conservation marketing career, I left the Take Care of Texas program to join the Texas Disposal Systems as their first ever Digital Marketing Specialist! (See my previous work from TCOT, including the Texas Trickle.)
The first few days consisted on new employee orientation, as well as advanced defensive driver training for new employees who drives for the company.
On my actual first day on the job, the company marketing director took me on a tour of the landfill and the onsite animal sanctuary. We started off at the main administrative building where I work, which featured several recycled metal art sculptures – like a mama bear and her cubs, as well as a tree with an eagle.
Metal sculpture of mama bear and cubs 
Administrative building and eagle in tree sculpture
Here is a video tour of the main Creedmoor Facility. It highlights all the operations onsite, like the landfill, composting center, materials recovery facility (MRF), and the exotic animal sanctuary.
Below are screen shots from the video tour. These show the areas of the facility grounds in more detail with labels.
After we drove through the landfill processing facilities, we made it to the exotic animal sanctuary. We drove past some large herbivore pens and stopped at Rowdy the Rhino’s pen. This white rhino is very friendly and enjoys being brush scrubbed by his handlers. Next, we went over to the giraffe enclosure and a couple of them approached me to see if I had food!
We continued the safari tour through the main prairie and saw dozens of other animals, ranging from emus to impalas! Along the trail was a large recycled metal lion sculpture made by the former resident artist.
Rowdy the Rhino in his pen 
Three Addax butting heads 
Stretch the Giraffe coming to visit 
Stretch and I posing for the camera 
Large recycled metal lion sculpture
Across from the onsite Garden-Ville, the organic gardening and landscaping product store, is the Guinness Book of World Record’s largest shovel! It was also made from recycled metal and wood by the former resident. The shovel is designed to raise and lower so it can be mobile and moved from place to place.
Standing in front of the shovel 
Standing next to the shovel spade
Near the entrance of the landfill is the Citizen’s Dropoff and Resale Store. This is where citizens drop off their landfill loads which are sifted through by onsite workers. They salvage materials and products that can be resold or redirected to avoid the landfill. There’s a surprising amount of intact products and supplies at the resale store! Most of which would’ve ended up in a majority of other landfills that blindly accept landfill loads.
View of items at the resale shop 
More items at the resale shop
