BS: Do you re-cycle ?

Subject: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: dianavan
Date: 08 Apr 05 - 10:03 PM

On a recent trip to Arizona I was surprised to find that there was no place to return my bottles and cans. When I asked where the bottle depot was located, I was directed to a place that sold hard liquor. When I asked what to do with the empties, I was told to throw them in the garbage. I was shocked!

Vancouver has a very effective, curbside recycling program. On garbage day you will see the 'blue boxes' lined up along the curb with sorted papers, plastic and glass. At school, returning juice boxes is a regular fund raiser. I wondered why the people of Vancouver were any different than those from Arizona.

I think it takes the will of the govt. plus a business that knows how to make it profitable. Heres some more info on a system that seems to be working for everyone:

Encorp Pacific (Canada) operates on the basis of several principles:

To develop and operate a system which provides consumer-friendly and convenient return points throughout the province
To manage the system in a cost-effective manner that has the lowest impact on consumer shelf prices
To run a cost-based system in which each container type pays its own costs with no cross-subsidization
To divert used products from landfill and incineration
To find useable end products which maximize the value of the recovered commodities
To treat all brand owners equitably

They are not the only recycling business in town, but they are widely known and appreciated. I also think that they are actually making a profit. Need work? Think recycling.

Earth day is April 24th.

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: jacqui.c
Date: 08 Apr 05 - 10:15 PM

I've been recycling for years and am glad that, in Maine, we have a good policy on this including curbside boxes and redemption centres. Carrier bags can be taken back to the supermarket as well.

We also use Goodwill and yard sales - I see these as a form of recycling in that unwanted items from one owner can find a new home rather than being trashed.

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 08 Apr 05 - 10:26 PM

Home recycling is a feel-good program that does very little good if any... most operate at a loss...

If ya wanna get serious about recycling, get on heavy industry, especially plastics manufactures....

And sign your organ donor card!

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 08 Apr 05 - 10:31 PM

There's no curbside recycling where we live, but there are reasonably convenient drop-off facilities. They're essentially large multi-compartment dumpsters/skips. Paper goes in one hatch. Bottles and cans go in the other.

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Apr 05 - 11:38 PM

My village doesn't have curbside recycling, so I keep my recycleables and every week or two take the bag over to dump into my ex's recycle bin--he's in a different city with a recycle program. I compost, and I take my cardboard and newspaper over to a bin at the elementary school my children used to attend. With those three operations, I don't often have more than a small bag of trash to go out twice a week. Once a week would be fine for me.

I used to live out in a rural area in Washington State and I took my recycleables to the university where they ran a center that involved sorting glass by color, metal by type, etc. Commingled recycleable materials programs may be easier for the homeowners, but they mean very little if any profit for the company with the contract.

On the campus where I work there are trash bins with three slots--one for dropping trash and the other two for glass and aluminum. The buildings on campus have had containers for paper and aluminum and plastic for years. The Environmental Health and Safety department on campus handles recycling and they take in substantial dollars during the year, though I don't know if it truly pays for itself.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: Scoville
Date: 09 Apr 05 - 12:00 AM

Texas in general doesn't have much recycling, but certain yuppie neighborhoods do. We don't live in one but we "borrowed" the address of one of my father's coworkers and take our recyclables to a drop-off station every other weekend or so.

The amount of paper and the number of Coke cans that are thrown away at work every day just KILLS me. Our neighbors even throw out their newspapers. Gaaack!

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Apr 05 - 12:18 AM

I was describing Edgecliff Village, Texas, (no recycling) and Fort Worth, Texas, (big program). So there is some, at any rate.

Fort Worth also composts yard waste and chips xmas trees (they've done these for years).

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 09 Apr 05 - 12:56 AM

New Orleans is generally pretty unenlightened on environmental issues, and there's plenty of littering, but we do have curbside recycling, and also a serious annual effort to recycle all Christmas trees for wetlands reclamation.

I have a large yard with four huge trees ~ one evergreen (pine) and three decidiuous (pecans) ~ and produce lots and lots of compost. No city-wide or public composting of any kind around here, though.

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: Kaleea
Date: 09 Apr 05 - 03:09 AM

Right now, I'm in Kansas, where they give you strange looks when you ask about recycling. Most trash companies don't want to do it cause it's more expensive for them. If you rent an apartment or house, the landlords don't want to pay for it. There are only a handful of places where one may go & recycle limited products.
    I lived in Minnesota someteen years back where recycling was mandatory in every county. I also lived in Oklahoma where it was more limited than here in Kansas. I will be moving out to San Diego in a couple of months where even if you rent, you may recycle with the regular trash pick up!   Few people remember that the 2 liter plastic bottle for sodas was invented by a gentleman & it was intended to be recycled. He showed many products & wore a polyester suit onto the Johnny Carson show when he talked about it. Johnny said he would investigate adding the recycled suits to his line of "Johnny Carson suits. Anybody know what happened to that?

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: Dipsodeb
Date: 09 Apr 05 - 03:34 AM

I recycle as much as I possibly can and compost the rest. Here in England, many of our local Borough Councils are becoming very hot on recycling and have spent alot of taxpayers money on providing kerbside pickup. There are also loadsa drop off points available.

I disagree Clinton I think Home recycling is crucial. If everyone had the attitude that there little bit wouldn't make a difference then it would only surfice to compund the problem even further. Besides if every single person were to be responsible for their own rubbish and recycle it would make a huge difference to the ever decreasing landfill situation. You know what they say about education starting at home. We need to educate our kids by example and ensure that they learn to think about their enviroment and what cause and effect they as an individual make. However I do agree with you on the issue of the huge industrial companies. Regulations should be heavily brought to bear on their business practice. Don't quote me but I read somewhere that America uses 10 million barrels of oil a year in the production of plastic bags alone. That is phenomenal.

We all owe it to the Planet that we live on to give Mother Earth the respect that she deserves.

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: Dipsodeb
Date: 09 Apr 05 - 03:48 AM

Cor that was close had an error message that came up during that last lot above and thought I would need to lose it, luckily pressed send on the off chance and it worked YEAH!! However I hadn't finished.

It seems to me that more active input from all the states at ground level from the HOME will eventually hit the politicians and get recycling as an issue to forefront.

A fantastic website actually started in America but here all over England now is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freecyclelondon/
I hope I done the clicky right. Anyway it's fantastic and really works well.

Happy recycling. ;-)

~Debs~

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: burntstump
Date: 09 Apr 05 - 03:51 AM

Not since I had my bike nicked

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 09 Apr 05 - 03:52 AM

North Norfolk, UK.

We get 2 wheelie bins, a black one (non recyclable) and a green (recyclable) one and they are emptied on alternate weeks (black one week, green the next).

The council also had a scheme for buying composters cheaply and we bought 3. As well as garden waste, we put some household waste in them.

We take glass to a bottle bank at a supermarket. We collect our newspapers and our 2 neigbours newspapers and take them to a skip at a local church. I believe the money made helps a little towards the upkeep of the church.

Another form of recycling is feeding food scraps to the hens, or sometimes (like some left over cottage pie the other day) to the dog. Between us, the animals and the composters, hardly any food is truely wasted.

I think that's it for recycling. We have also tried to become a bit more energy conscious down to switching most things off at night (it's surprising how all these things on standby can add up) and using low energy bulbs.

My parents qualified for free wall and roof insulation and we had that done last year. On top of that, I revamped the heating system, fitting programmable thermostats for hot water and heating and a new zone valve. It's hard to gauge but I think between the 2 it's looking like we have almost halved our oil consumption for a warmer house. It did have one drawback though. We usually get our oil at the same time as our neighbours as we can negotiate a better price with the supplier for 2 drops and a larger volume but last time when next door were ready, we didn't have room for a minimum delivery so when we did need the oil, we had to pay more per litre.

I've got a solar power project lined up for later in the year. It's just to power a pond pump, a couple of lights, have some 240V in an old pigsty we use as a BBQ area, etc. on an area of land where on top of liking the idea of having the sun do the work, I don't want to be running mains from the house to.

I don't know if this experience will lead me to attempt to do anything with the house or not but I doubt it. Although if I ever start dabbling with lapidary again and the outside system works, I might consider an upgrade and see if I could run the pebble polishers (one is a big one that takes 3 drums), the grinder/cutter/polisher, etc. in one of the sheds over the summer months.

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 09 Apr 05 - 05:25 AM

What do you expect from a nation that refused to sign the Kyoto agreement about cutting greenhouse emissions?

There may be a hole in the ozone layer, but there's a bigger 'hole down here....

We recycle what we can, and since the local council upgraded their refuse collection service and re-organised the local tipping facilities, that's an awful lot. It's got so that the general rubbish is so little, the bin men check the bin to see if it's worth emptying.. their rounds are much quicker that way!

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: freda underhill
Date: 09 Apr 05 - 06:19 AM

in sydney councils collect three times -

1 general garbage
2 paper, in a separate container which the council provides free
3 glass and plastic bottles, again in a separate container which the council provides free

i work for a govt department that also recylces all waste -

in the kitchen we have a bin for compost, a bin for recyclabale bottles, and a bin for non-recyclable stuff.

we have huge bins for all the paper we use & throw out - it all gets shredded and recycled.

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 09 Apr 05 - 07:19 AM

In Brisbane, and in some parts of Queensland, recycling is common - it thus costs less to get landfill facilities, as they are expensive. Australia apparently has something like a 96% recycling rate for aluminium drink cans.

Here, we have 2 bins - the yellow top is the recycling one - paper & some plastics. There used to be a separate recycling truck once a fortnight, but now have every alternate run a normal garbage truck and a dual garbage/recycling truck. Shortly there will be a green waste pickup, with a bag of compost left in exchange. There is also a yearly rubbish pickup from the footpath - and the scavengers do well at that time.

In Toowoomba, they have a bin with a divider for 2 compartments, and the truck supposedly is able to keep it separate.

In most of Australia it would not be possible for health reasons (temperature) to have normal garbage collected any less frequently than weekly.

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: kendall
Date: 09 Apr 05 - 08:08 AM

I have no figures to argue Clinton's point, but I do knopw that the roadsides here in Maine are nearly spotless since recycling came in. Not so in other places, their roadsides look like a bloody tip!

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 09 Apr 05 - 08:12 AM

... cause they are used as that Kendall!

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: artbrooks
Date: 09 Apr 05 - 09:48 AM

Dianavan, I'd say it depends on where you were in Arizona...its a big place. When I lived in Prescott (kinda between Phoenix and Flagstaff), the city had a very active program that recycled (weekly) everything except ferrous metals and petroleum byproducts. Now we are in Albuquerque, and the city picks up plastics (#1 and #2 only), aluminum, newspaper and cardboard; we have to go to a site about 1/2 mile away to dispose of glass.

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 09 Apr 05 - 12:35 PM

There is no pickup of recyclables in my area. There are bins at a few local supermarkets where one can drop newpapers only. A few grocery stores have bins where one may drop the disposable plastic bags.

Since transportation costs for these "collected recyclables" far exceeds the recoverable value of them, "unofficial" reports are that all the collected recyclables are "recycled" into the trash bins and ultimately go directly to the land fill.

The city and county have been lamenting the need for a new local landfill, but because of the NIMBY attitude, have been unable to find a place to put one. Since the trash service companies developed disposal facilities while waiting for municipal authorities to come up with something - which they must keep operating to recover the costs (and make some profit) the "local land fill" is in an adjacent state.

An acquaintance not too long ago decided to do something about it, so he put up $13,000,000 (US) to start a non-profit business to recycle the grocery bags (plastic) into landscape lumber. Even as a non-profit, the business was unable to sell the rather fine materials they made, since they cost about 5% more (at cost) than convential competing products, so when they used up the original $13M, and the $5M or so they'd recovered from sales, Jerry had to fork out another couple of million to haul the residual (unsold and eminently usable) products to the landfill. He tried for about 3 years before giving up.

I am rather apalled at my neighbors across the street, who put out TWO 50 gallon carts, and usually pile enough loose stuff to fill a third one beside them every week; but of course they have children. I use the same size 50 gal cart, but seldom put mine out more than about every second or third week for pickup, seldom full (although I still have to pay for the weekly service).

(Maybe it's poverty that makes us more "efficient" than the neighbors?)

There simply is no way anyone can usefully recycle anything here, unless it's something you can convert directly to your own use.

A few local organizations "make a profit" by collecting aluminum cans, but if you allow for what it costs them to collect them they'd be better off if the people who burn the gas to bring them in would just send a donation.

A rather bleak situation for the environmentally aware.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: open mike
Date: 09 Apr 05 - 12:39 PM

because so many of the poep;le in Arizona are snow birds who have bflown south to avoud canadian winters...

I am told that the local garbage company actually runs everyething on a conveyer belt and they sort out the recyclables...seems like a messy
way rather than to encourage consumers to seperate at home.
although that would require seperate trucks and in this rural area
the transport is the main consideration.

i once operated a re-cycling station in the local store parking lot..
it was a one-time program to encourage people to bring in their re-cycleables. When i worked with disabled students, we often collected aluminum cans as a fund raiser. May of these kids work at a recycling center when they graduate school. There is one re-cycling center that is a work project for the disabled and it provides employment for them, and generates monies for programs to benefit the disabled.

I recycle and keep a compost pile and it takes me several weeks to fill one small (30 gallon?) garbage can, which needs to be taken to a place about 1/2 mile away near the closest paved road.

I gather up re-cyclaeables and thake them to town every year or two..
the last time i went to a re-cycle center was when i was helping some neighbors bottle their wine and we were taking bottles out to re-use.

the "logo" or motto often used is Reduce--Re-use--Recycle
the three "R's"

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: iancarterb
Date: 09 Apr 05 - 01:27 PM

When we collectively oblige our governing bodies to do seventh generation economics, the inexorable equation of 4 hours of a 60 watt light bulb OR make one aluminum can from bauxite instead of from an old can will be factored into the tax structure. At least in Kitsap Co, Washington, we must be doing something in the way of pricing landfill correctly, because the local trash haulers do the curbside recycling program because it saves them money. Until the inescapable consequnce of not including disposal into the cost of products hits 51% of the voters, the regional differences will be stunning, globally as well as nation by nation and locality by locality. What I personally find most discouraging is the regularity with which I see (and conspicuously dig in and move) aluminum cans and paper in garbage cans RIGHT NEXT to recycle containers in the workplace. They are all put there by the children of people my age who have been setting the example of recycling for 30 or 40 years. Some things take longer than others. It must be rebellion!

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 09 Apr 05 - 01:49 PM

"I think Home recycling is crucial"

Think what you want... it won't change the fact that the amount of paper, and cans and pop-bottles diverted by home recycling is a drop in the ocean, and hardly worth the effort...

" We all owe it to the Planet that we live on to give Mother Earth the respect that she deserves"

Oh please... hug a rainbow... the 'planet' and 'mother earth' STARTED the fight for survival... We should care because now SHE'S losing?!?! I don't think so... I mean, she had it comin'... she had on a tight, revealing jet-stream...

"America uses 10 million barrels of oil a year in the production of plastic bags"
What's the difference, if it's laying around in the earth as oil, or laying around in the earth as plastic bags?

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: kendall
Date: 09 Apr 05 - 02:44 PM

Tell it to some seagull that choked to death on a plastic ring from a six pack. Tell it to some whale that was choked to death on a discarded fishing net.
Man, God's most noble creation..HAW!

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: Sooz
Date: 09 Apr 05 - 03:01 PM

Tell it to your grandchildren

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: Tannywheeler
Date: 09 Apr 05 - 04:50 PM

Sooz & Kendall for Pres/City Council/County Commissioner/Senator -- National Natural Resource Chairpeople.

So, why isn't there, nationwide. competition among states to create recycling programs which collect and reconfigure recyclables into useful articles for the home? How can we get more action on this idea?

Austin recycles. There's a blue bin that gets emptied on the same day as the garbage. But it's not differntiated. Glass, paper, cans all together. I'm afraid to ask what happens -- does it get sorted at a center, or what?       Tw

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: freda underhill
Date: 09 Apr 05 - 05:33 PM

at our national folk festival, held in Canberra a couple of weeks ago,
whereever you wander instead of one grotty bin, there are sets of three bins, clearly marked for compost recycling or everything else.

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 09 Apr 05 - 05:40 PM

They do that in Belgium as well. At the Dranouter festival (one of the biggest in Europe), there are different bins for glass, paper, cans and other waste. There are gangs of children (Belgian boy scouts) who scour the site for bottles, cans and paper, because they get a bonus for each bagful they bring in. Consequently, the whole site is much cleaner, less wasp infested and safer for everyone, and takes less clearing up than some other festivals I've attended.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: Shanghaiceltic
Date: 09 Apr 05 - 05:44 PM

There is no organised recycling here in Shanghai such as special bins for glass, paer, plastic etc. However we box up plastic, paper etc and leave it at the steps on the end of our garden and lo and behold about 10-15 minutes later it is gone.

No not the rubbish fairy but an old fellow on a trike with a sort of skip at the back who makes his living by taking the stuff away and selling it at a few cents/pence/jiao per kilo to the local companies who do re-use the stuff.

Walk down any street in Shanghai or most cities in China and you will find people fishing out the plastic bottles and cans from rubbish bins and selling those on to eke out their pensions or even just to make a living.

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 09 Apr 05 - 07:04 PM

In Chesham, Bucks, the council provides free containers for
-glass (but not Pyrex)
-paper
-general waste

which they collect separately. No plastic or metal recycling collections from home, although the town does have at least two locations with special large containers for this purpose.

Something that I liked particularly is that the council subsidised each household for the purchase of a composter, asking people to recycle green waste themselves for their garden. You should see my roses (they are bindweed, you moron - La Inglesa).

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 09 Apr 05 - 07:14 PM

Seagulls and whales were dying LONG before we ever 'invented' plastic...    I find it very hard to care that they continue to die...

"Man, God's most noble creation..HAW!"

Who said, or even implied, that?

Man, near as I can tell, is just another animal sh!tting where it eats...

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: heric
Date: 09 Apr 05 - 07:27 PM

You are blind to the truth. We extract and release the vast store of hydrocarbons from where they have been trapped for millenia. That is our Purpose, distinct from any other animal.

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 09 Apr 05 - 07:44 PM

We're in a rural area of California, where garbage pickup is an optional service performed by a private firm. By law, the firm is required to provide curbside recycling for customers.

But we're a quarter-mile from the road, and animals tend to knock over garbage cans that are left by the road, so very few people make use of garbage pickup. I take mine to a Dumpster where I do volunteer work in the City of Scaramento, and we have a separate Dumpster for recycling. Most of the neighbors burn their trash (although I think that's mostly illegal now), or store it and make an occasional run to the dump. And then there are other people who just find a convenient spot and dump their trash wherever they like. I cleared 6 tires from our roadside this week. Illegal dumping is a real problem here.

The dumps charge a $20 recycling fee for televisions and computer monitors, so people seem to like to dump their cathode ray tubes at roadside. California now charges a recycling fee when you buy a TV or monitor, but the dumps still charge their fees. Seems like there's a problem there.

I have a wife who's a compulsive recycler, and I've been trying to tame her. It's hard to convince her that it's wasteful to drive ten miles to a place that will recycle a pound of styrofoam - my usual service in Sacramento doesn't recycle styrofoam.

But in general, California has pretty good laws to encourage recycling. Some U.S. conservatives think recycling and global warming talk and all forms of conservation are a leftist plot to destroy the American Way of Life, and that may be why recycling is not found very often in states with conservative majorities.

-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: jacqui.c
Date: 09 Apr 05 - 07:50 PM

Thing is that we are the only animal on the planet producing enormous amounts of non biodegradable trash.

I've heard that the disposable nappies and styrofoam will be around for at least hundreds of years in one form or another. That just isn't good for anyone.

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 09 Apr 05 - 07:59 PM

It came outa the earth... it finds its way back into the earth... how do you know that isn't why the planet evolved us in the first place? Maybe it WANTED plastic?!?!

Hey... I got a good example of the kind of recycling I do... I collect all my little soaps, melt them in a little water and make my own liquid hand soap...   There... I re-cycle... happy??

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: Rapparee
Date: 09 Apr 05 - 10:12 PM

We have recycled since 1972, either curbside or (like now) taking it to a recycling point. Paper, plastics, glass, steel, aluminum, whatever. One of my few disappointments about where I now live is that glass isn't recycled, and plastics are limited to 1 and 2.

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: dianavan
Date: 10 Apr 05 - 04:30 AM

Clint - Oil comes from inside Earth and plastic collects on the surface of the earth and in earth's oceans. On the surface it looks like litter and in the oceans it kills a large number of ducks and other aquatic birds.   

Oil and plastic, whats the difference? Are you a comedian or something?

Subject: RE: BS: Do you re-cycle ?
From: dianavan
Date: 10 Apr 05 - 04:56 AM

heric -

Aliens landed on earth one day to observe the life forms and report back to the authorities on Mars. The saucer happened to land in a gas station. They watched a family, filling-up their car and driving off.

They hurried back to report that there appeared to be two species. The female was mobile and actively pursued the male which wasn't too unusual but....the male was perfectly stationary, even during mating. As soon as intercourse was over with, the female hurried away. But what was really amazing was that the male had an extremely long sexual organ that he wrapped around his shoulder three times and stuck stuck in his ear.

... oh yeah - Pumps don't work that way anymore. Old joke. ;>/