Lichen, one of nature's recyclers. The Urban Naturalist photo
A story in my local newspaper this morning described the conflict one of the area's smaller communities is having over recycling.
Amazing. In 2011, we still have whole communities that haven't yet decided whether recycling waste -- as nature always has done -- is "worth" it. The city is considering a voluntary recycling plan that would charge those who want to do it $2 to $3 more a month to cover the costs of the program. Those who don't want to recycle wouldn't have to pay the extra fee. As one recycle-supporting resident told city officials, recycling is a personal choice, and she didn't mind paying more.
How pitiful that this woman had to pander to the ignorance of a few in order to get her city to do the right thing -- and is having to pay more to do what's right in the process. Cities have it all backwards. Recycling should be mandatory, and those who don't want to do it ought to be the ones paying more. The true costs of our landfills encompasses more than trucks and people whose job it is to turn the stuff over. Trashing our only planet will cost future generations much more than $3 a month.
One of the residents who is against having to recycle said his family "doesn't produce enough" to recycle. Really? Where does this guy buy stuff? I buy mostly fresh produce-type food, and one week's worth of packaging from the grocery store is enough to fill our indoor recycling bin twice. Our recycling trash can goes to the curb twice as often as our garbage can.
When and how did we become so ecologically illiterate as a society? Step back and consider that nature has thousands of detrivores -- animals and other organisms whose job it is to eat dead and decaying stuff -- and it is plain to see that recycling waste back into the system is not simply a part of life. It is what allows us to make new life.
Recycling isn't a choice. It what nature intended. Those who don't do it, end up paying one way or another.
It is disappointing how somebody could take to say he/she does not contribute to environment distractions. On the other side of the coin, knowing the other woman, we can still believe there are still some who lives uprightly and who are willing to take responsibilities in helping to save the environment. If we neglect the environmental issues now, we will also repay in the future hence it would be better if we just start now.
Posted by: waste transfer stations | December 10, 2011 at 08:35 PM