I'm really losing my zest and zeal for recycling... (oil, environmental, paper)

[blisterpeanuts]

When we lived in Glendale, Ariz., we loved the huge twin bins the city issued us, one for rubbish and one for recycling. As a family of 3, we NEVER filled either one up from week to week, though sometimes when cleaning house we came close. Those trucks that empty the bins are great. Now we're back in the Boston area, which has 1950s technology: guys on trucks have to manually dump the barrels and the blue recycle buckets (which are far too small).

Sorry cds610 but I agree with the OP. Apart from elderly fixed income types, Section 8 does serve a less desirable population that simply doesn't seem to care about broken glass on the sidewalk, trash on the lawns, parties at all hours, drug dealing, burglarizing neighboring residences, and will gladly slash your tires if you complain too loudly. Section 8 -- which you and I are paying for-- should go to those who deserve it and not abuse it. The rest seriously belong in jail or in a homeless shelter, or maybe should pay their own way.

[Linda_d]

Why does what somebody else does change the way you do things, especially when you know what you're doing is the right thing?

Recycling is no big deal on an individual basis, and it's something that can have measurable benefits if it's widespread. In the case of my city and county, widespread recycling has cut so much solid waste that the county landfill has added another decade or more to its projected life.

[Rabrrita]

I have lost my zeal for recycling when the focus stopped being keeping as much recyclable waste out of the landfills to getting the municipality most money for the recycled materials.

before we would place just about anything (metal, plastics, paper products, glass, wood, and even containers of waste liquids like oil in special collection boxes every couple of months) to now they want only plastic # this to #that that are washed and cleaned, only clean glass food jars and we are to remove the lids, you have to remove the labels from the items in your bin, plain paper, newspaper and cardboard, but no mixed paper/plastic items, No mixed items like the broken big wheels or plastic/metal lawn furniture, no more wood product, and no more waste oils. The reason, the amount of money they make from selling the products is too small and they would rather concentrate on those items where they can make the most money.

Since they implemented these for profit methods, they have not published the recycling rate anymore. I wonder how low it is now and I wonder what year the landfill is now projected to be full.

I use to be big on recycling, attempting to divert as much as possible from the waste bin, but now I find myself not caring anymore.

[Mack Knife]

Originally Posted by whirnot

That would be true if no companies offered single stream recycling, which many do.

Many more do not. Single stream recycling is going the wayside because it has been found that single stream recycling costs more to implement when run by companies vs the municipal services.

It really doesn't help the person in Alabama if the person in New Jersey has single stream recycling available does it?

I am not pro regulation by any means but if we as a society has decided that the environment is a priority I do see regulations requiring people to for practical purposes, pay money to a company to manage the waste wrong. It is regulating people to do business with a company.

So, if the sorting by private individuals is a requirement, then the waste management should be a municipal service so that the people vote on and control how that works. Government should not be the one to require anyone to buy a service from a company. Yes, I know about Obamacare but I see that as a travesty and think it is wrong.

The money going into private waste management companies could instead go to municipal services (the landfill probably are anyway) and then those recycling services could be updated with the latest technologies and the benefits directly going to the public good.

While I detest government inserting itself into the private sector businesses, worse is when private business becomes the defacto way to do something because the government says that it how it must be.

[brownbagg]

i gave up my zest thirty years ago, when i calculated it was costing me money to recycle i just quit, just dump everything in one dumpster, even use motor oil. all in one. when it started come me time and gas money to take the recycle to the recycle yard, half way across town, if they want that plastic bottle that bad, they can pick it out themselves.

[Old Guard]

Originally Posted by Hemlock140

Yes, as long as it's legal, it is a right and a choice. Some cities (like Seattle) have more restrictions, such as fines for putting organic waste in the garbage, and demanding use of a separate recycling bin for that, but if no such rules exist, people can do what they want. In the case of those that frequently eat prepared foods, frozen dinners and the like, there is going to be a lot more waste to dispose of, and that will typically be lower income people that can't afford to eat at nice restaurants, or buy healthier, more expensive foods to cook. We find that the recycling bin is full every week, while the small garbage bin may only be half full. If this neighbor bothers you so much, you might consider moving.

Just because something is legal does not mean it is a right.

[tmozer]

I would probably rate a C+ as an environmentalist. I recycle and try to reuse when I can. But I am not proud of my use of plastics and the like. And I do believe that plastic pollution of our earth, especially our waterways, is a major problem that will increasingly affect the quality of life of all living things, including (and especially) humans!

My beer and soda comes mostly in aluminum cans or glass bottles. Why can't bottled water and other beverages that are sold in plastic bottles come in aluminum or glass? Why can't K-cups for coffee be packaged in thin aluminum with paper tops? While I realize that a 30 bottle case of 12 oz water packaged in glass bottles would be a lot heavier, why can't the water come in aluminum bottles? If changing from plastic containers to metal or glass would increase the cost, so be it. Aluminum and glass can be completely recycled. And even if aluminum or glass containers end up in a land fill or discarded in the environment, at least they do little harm (aside from the litter factor), unlike discarded plastic!

[tjasse]

I've lost my zeal for recycling, but I don't think I'll ever lose my zest for it.

[BellaDL]

Our township has a very nice recycling/waste transfer station. The recycling bin is single stream so it is very easy just to put all recyclable items in there be it books, paper, boxes, plastics, metal cans or glass bottles. Few years ago, we had to sort them into separate bins and could only recycle certain types of plastic (#1 up to #3). The township charges $4 for a 33 gallon-size garbage bag (for rubbish) so it makes economical sense to recycle.

Since we compost all organic materials and recycle anything which is recyclable, we typically take only one bag of 'garbage' in a carload of recycle stuffs to the 'dump' once every 2-3 months.

I like our township's method of encouraging recycling. The waste transfer station is a very clean and orderly place. The 'garbage' is immediately compressed in a semi-sealed big container. It is like day and night in comparing to the 'dump' of the past which was just a smelly mountain of wastes.

[AnnieA]

I get discouraged, as well, but I still do it. Every little bit helps, JMO.

I do think bottle bills do work. We diligently hunted discarded drink bottles when I was a kid (early '50's). We would have a wagon full to haul off to the local grocer.