Seriously? I have been an avid recycler for more than forty years. I have scrubbed out cat food cans, bottle brushed large mayonnaise jars, squished countless beer cans, gently placed that “really good wine” bottle in the “Blue Bin.” Now I am told the rules have changed. Hmmm? I received this notice recently.
Recycling –
Please refrain from placing the following
non-recyclable materials into the Blue Bin:
Batteries – Guilty of this one.
Ceramic Dishware/Glassware – Why? Mixed materials?
Food – Vegetable trimmings can go in the Green Bin, No meat.
Glass mirrors/windows – I thought glass was recycled?
Electronics – There is a local facility that will take these items, but no curb pick up.
Fluorescent Light bulbs – Glass/mixed materials?
Incandescent light bulbs – Glass/mixed materials?
Needles – Obviously.
Paper towels, cups, plates & napkins – They don’t want any dirty, greasy, used.
Pizza Boxes – Not any more! Some grease is always left on the box.
So, NO Plastic?
Plastic labeled “Compostable” or “Biodegradable” – Unsure about this one. Why?
Plastic Utensils
Plastic Bags & Film
Styrofoam – I have always recycled “peanuts” in plastic bags.
Shredded Paper – This one is killing me! Why? It’s paper!
Lumber – I get this.
Yard Trimmings – Green Bin.
“If these items are found in the blue bin it
will be considered contaminated, will not
be picked up and you will receive a disposal fee.”
This sounds like the Wicked Witch of the West to me!
Well, our trash cans and dumps are going to fill up more quickly now that we have essentially stopped recycling. I am very disappointed in us for not finding ways to re-use these products. I guess the Third World stopped finding our recycling attractive. What can we do?
Humans have always been very messy. In the way old days (like nomads) when the camp got too stinky and trashed, you moved to your Winter camp or whatever. Thankfully we invented plumbing for the nasty stuff, but that still has to be processed too. Many of us thought recycling was a potential solution, but when you have cargo ships filled with “trash/recycling” floating the ocean looking for a place to unload, and being refused at the usual stops, we have a problem. Hopefully someone will come up with a solution.
We used to burn trash. As a kid I grew up with incinerators at the back of the property where we would burn literally everything: cans, newspapers, garbage, spaghetti, pizza boxes, the whole shebang. Everyone had an incinerator. It was both dangerous and gross to clean it out. Rusty half burnt cans, broken glass, ashes filled with remnants of our family life. Every house or apartment complex had one as a matter of course. We were so familiar with the process, we thought nothing of it until the smog almost killed us. Then they banned the burning. The incinerator left barren became our new “Fort!”
Everything in its time.
(First published 11/17/15)
