I’m impressed that my community recycles. 20 years ago, I would not have predicted that communities would universally embrace recycling. But our recycling is only picked up once every two weeks, whereas our trash is picked up every week. I wouldn’t want to see those frequencies reversed—having grown up with twice-weekly trash pickup and an easily accessible dump transfer station, 7 days already feels like a very long time to hang onto trash. But we could easily have recycling picked up along with trash every week, or even more frequently. Instead, recycling is clearly treated as a relatively minor consideration, even though it’s close to half of what we put on the curb.
So, a poll, and a place for comments. Do you like how recycling is handled in your town? How would you improve it?
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Recycling frequency: comments
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5 comments:
In the small town in Maine where my parents live, trash is picked up weekly and recycling has to be taken to a central site. At one point, they could put out a limited amount of trash for "free" pickup, and had to pay per bag for excess quantities. (That may still be true---I don't know the current plan.) I say "free" because payment for the base amount is part of property taxes, and the town is very clear on that point. Their recycling is mixed: paper, glass, plastic all go into the same dumpsters because it turns out to be less expensive for the town to do it that way. For a larger town, sorting probably becomes more cost effective. (The dumpsters were sort of half paper/half glass & plastic. The paper side would fill up and they would have to get the hauling company to take away a half-full dumpster. All beverage containers have a deposit in Maine. The town has a separate shed for those, and the money from the returns goes into the town's budget. A lot of people donate their returns to the town.)
I wish our recycling pickups were weekly. Especially with paper, which we don't have a nice way to keep dry once it's outside, We really accumulate a lot of paper recycling in two weeks. I tend to get lazy about cleaning out styro and plastic containers in the second week when recycling them would require digging out another paper bag to contain the containers in the kitchen. But our small city doesn't share information about the costs of increasing pickups, so I it's hard to do the cost-benefit analysis.
Our recycling is picked up weekly and that seems about right, given that there isn't an incentive to do more recycling. For instance, I would probably be far more cautious about my trash discarding if we paid more for trash and nothing for recycling. I think about composting but it scares me a little--I have trouble remembering what's ok and what's not and then the idea that you have to turn it and all...
A friend of ours suggested that there should be an orange bin collection as part of the recycling run--for things like batteries and compact fluorescents and household toxics that need proper disposal. People undoubtedly discard too much of this improperly rather than wait for the hazardous waste collection days that happen about once a quarter.
--Fran
Composting is a whole 'nother thing.
My parents compost by choosing a spot the right distance from the house, and just dumping stuff there until for one reason or another it's time to move to a new spot.
As I cleaned out the refrigerator this morning and ended up with a whole trash bag of compostables, I was annoyed by our small yard that means there's no good spot for a compost bin. And having skunks and 'coons in our urban neighborhood means a sealed bin would be an absolute necessity.
Everyone voted for recycling to be picked up along with trash, rather than privileging one or the other. I love the idea of orange bins for hazardous waste, at least of the currently inert kind.
Where we used to live in NC, trash was picked up twice weekly, recycling every other week (or was it twice per month?) and yard waste on a whole 'nother schedule. Then they revamped the whole system and picked up everything once a week, on the same day each week. Recycling skyrocketed as soon as people didn't have to think about when to put it out.
Where my sister lives in Bloomington, they have to pay per bag for trash (little chits that get stuck on the bags) but recycling is free. I'd love that system.
Where we live now in IN, trash is once weekly; yard waste on the same day (but out front, not in the alley); and recycling is every other week, on a different day, out front. I really wish recycling were every week, because it tends to pile up, especially now that we get a daily paper.
I'd also love the orange-bin system for inert hazardous waste. I know I've thought twice about just chucking a rechargeable battery or two in the trash. (Never done it, though.)
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