By Stacia Kalinoski

EUGENE, Ore. -- In another effort to help Lane County go green, St. Vincent de Paul is going white.

The agency can now shred and compress styrofoam thanks to a new, $23,000 machine. The county and grants helped St. Vincent purchase a styrofoam recycling machine.

Its compression ability? Fifty cubic feet of styrofoam can be tossed in, but only one cubic foot comes back out. The St. Vincent director says this will cut down drastically the amount of waste heading to landfills.

Twenty business owners have already signed on, like Mark Gilbert of Edgewater Home Furnishings. He uses up to 12 bags of styrofoam this size every month and says he always felt guilty about sending it to the landfill. Now, he brings it to the St. Vincent de Paul warehouse.

The director hopes the rest of lane county follows suit. "The amount that we believe is recoverable in the community could fill this building once a month," said St. Vincent de Paul Director Terry McDonald.

Anyone can drop off styrofoam at St. Vincent de Paul Donation Centers, but there are small fees. You can only drop off block styrofoam and peanuts. Nothing used for food packaging is allowed because of contamination risks.