Waste, fraud and abuse

[hfojvt]

that's the title of regulation 30:30 from when I was in the military.

I was at another party last night, working the garbage detail, of course. While I was checking the trash, I pulled out 45 aluminum cans, which was probably less than 1/4 of the cans used that night. I was not there at the end of the party to save more.

It kills me to see all that money thrown away. Even more so when it is a high school graduation party or even a Boy Scouts event - our young people are still not being taught to recycle. Even at my niece's graduation parties, I have been the one who set up the recycling. It's not even that hard. I got a trash bag from my car and tied it to the handle of the trash can. The harder part is getting people to use that recycling bag.

Trying to estimate how much gets thrown away, google gives me this http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/alum.htm

which says this - "51 percent of aluminum beer and soft drink containers generated were recycled (about 0.7 million tons)."

Meaning that about .67 million tons of aluminum are discarded or 1.34 billion pounds. At 60 cents a pound that is $804 million dollars - every year. That's enough money to provide a $40,000 annual income to over 20,000 families.

Now if there was some way to calculate the value of the drinks that get thrown away still half full (or even 1/6 full) I bet that would run into hundreds of millions.

People, please. Recycle.

[TwilightGardener]

1. I am the only one among our neighbors to recycle--we pay extra per month

to our garbage collector for that privilege, BTW, but it's only about $8. Everything goes into one bin--so easy. Only thing we don't recycle anymore is glass, our home recycling won't take it and the recycling bins in our community have been removed due to budget cuts. My husband got tired of driving around with boxes of glass, making special trips to other places to unload it.

[cutlassmama]

3. we do too.

[hfojvt]

5. $8 a month seems like a lot to pay to me

my whole garbage bill is only $15.40 a month, and I already think that is too high. There are bins for paper nearby and every so often I take plastic bottles to the city center. About the only glass I have to recycle is from bottles that are left in my yard by others.

[TwilightGardener]

6. I guess it's because they have to send out a separate truck on a different day--

it's kind of irritating to have to pay more to do the right thing (especially when I think they might get paid by the recycling co. for the materials), but I don't have a choice if I want to recycle here.

[Angry Dragon]

2. +1000

I have been recycling since 1972

[hfojvt]

7. I am not sure when I started

but I can remember as a kid, (or teenager) spending some Saturdays volunteering at the recycling center. This was obviously at the behest of my parents, my mom was there too. My parents were Republicans, but they still believed in recycling and conservation.

[Retrograde]

4. My town makes it easy - it raised garbage rates

it keeps raising garbage rates, and since all utilities including pickup are bundled you don't have much choice - unless you want live without power and water. However, it provides as many recycle containers as you want at no cost, as well as containers for yard waste and compostables, and picks them up weekly. Last I looked the program essentially pays for itself, and the compost generated is used in parks and sold to the public. The downside is that the recycle program has been so successful that the town can't deliver the contracted amount of landfill garbage.

[hfojvt]

8. I sorta like that

but now my town does not charge by the bag. If they did, it would be more equitable, but it would probably be too easy for people to just toss bags for free in some wooded area around here. We have tons of wooded areas.

[onethatcares]

9. I work at a condo complex and

recycling there is out of the question due to no one wanting to do it. There was a company, WastePro or something that would send a large truck with two men on it to pick up one plastic box of aluminum cans, a weeks worth of the St. Pete times, and some cardboard. Very inefficient system in my book.

I asked people if they would save their cans for me if I provided a 13 gallon trash can and two plastic bags for it each week. I got two takers and for that I'm thrilled but I see what is getting tossed and believe me it would pay off to collect out of the dumpsters but that is a big no-no. I'm talking at least 100.00 a week and more like 150.00 in just cans.

As far as setting up an area with a caged can trailer, that ain't gonna happen ever.

BTW, I give the cans I do get to homeless folks.