Nov. 2, 2009 issue
Love of neighbor spurred opposition to Mega Shredder recycling machine
By Heidi Martin For Mennonite Weekly ReviewDarrin Snyder Belousek learned about the value of loving his neighbor when the Mega Shredder came to Elkhart, Ind., in 2006.
Crews prepare the Mega Shredder in Elkhart, Ind., to be moved Sept. 30. Neighbors had petitioned to reduce the effects of the machine on their area. — Photo by Jennifer Shephard/The Elkhart Truth
Believed to be North America’s largest car scrapper, the 500-foot machine could demolish a vehicle as large as a bus to recycle the metal.
It also created fumes, noise and vibrations so strong they felt like explosions, Snyder Belousek said, or like a car hitting his house.
Snyder Belousek — who now leads a Service Adventure unit in Raleigh, N.C., for Mennonite Mission Network and formerly taught philosophy at Goshen (Ind.) College — helped lead a movement to get the shredder out of the neighborhood.
“We had no power or standing in the city,” he said of the group, Residents for Environmentalism Stand Together, or REST. “There was no one with us who had any connections. We had no money to work with. We were starting from scratch. All we had was our own voice to speak truth.”
The shredder, part of Sturgis Iron and Metal’s scrap yard, operated for two years until the company went bankrupt in 2008.
The current owner began dismantling the machine in late September. Work was nearly complete in mid-October.
As REST worked to get the company to move the shredder, it broadened its mission to advocate for all people in the neighborhood and to work for better city government.
“We were really persisting for a shift in how politics worked in the city,” Snyder Belousek said. “We tried to do our thing with integrity. We were not a Christian organization, but everyone involved was a Christian. That’s really what sustained us, that God was faithful and justice would be done.”
Snyder Belousek served as vice president of the group, which is no longer active.
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