December 3, 2007
Recycling as a last resort?
Is recycling a ton of consumer waste something that an individual family should brag about?
The Curby program has proved wildly popular with some Nashville residents who brag of having up to three of the green, 96-gallon carts to fill with paper, aluminum and other recyclables for monthly pickup …
In Nashville, Curby came to homes automatically, and the convenience has made it a recycling method some love. “We have three containers and they’re usually full,” said Paul Brown, a retired minister in the Green Hills area. “I think the program ought to be used, if it can be.”
I am a frequent recycler, and I want to see our citywide recycling rates increase. Wouldn’t it be better for all of us, though, to find ways to divert as much of our household garbage as possible, from both the trash can and the recycling bin? Consider what one blogger and many others have to say about recycling as a last resort:
When I first started this project, I quickly learned that recycling was really not the be all and end all. It takes up a lot of energy, causes pollution and only uses a small percentage of the material, landing the rest in land fill. Our society uses it as an easy way out- the more you recycle the better, but it’s not so. It’s best to just not get (or even better, create) the packaging in the first place. Recycling is good as a last resort, after reducing and reusing, but we use it as a salvation. This is old news. I’ve talked about it before and people as a whole are becoming more aware of the recycling myth.
I support continuing our current Curby program, but I see it as a beginning, not a long-term solution. Though it might be politically untenable at present, I’d love to see our city follow the path blazed by Austin, if not Seattle (as mentioned in The Tennessean story linked at the top of this post). Why shouldn’t we charge people by the amount of waste they generate? Isn’t that capitalism at work?
![Rob Robinson](http://thinktrain.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/Rob.jpg")
gavin said,
December 4, 2007 @ 2:56 pm
ew.. to charge for the amount of their trash.. you will find a friend with me on that. our household might produce a single trash bag a week. but with children that could increase. still, we pay a private company to help with our recycling as old hickory uses their own water/sewage public works and curby doesn’t fit into that plan. i’ve heard that about 10 percent of what is recycled is actually put into recycle. but that doesn’t give excuse to just throw away the practice of recycling. we could be more radical in all kinds of other waste practices…
Rob Robinson said,
December 4, 2007 @ 3:48 pm
I’d like to know more about where most of our recycled items go, too. I’ve heard similar estimates. I’m in favor of looking for ways to waste less and use what we have more wisely, that’s for sure…
Kudos to you for paying to recycle. That’s honorable.
Southern Beale said,
December 4, 2007 @ 5:06 pm
You can get a 96-gallon cart? Maybe that’s what I have … today I called to get a third one (I wanted a little one) and I thought they said our options were 64 and 48 gallon. Maybe I’m wrong.
gavin said,
December 4, 2007 @ 11:48 pm
a long time ago i had a security job that dealt with top secret documents. periodically, about every two weeks, we would drive a number of boxes of papers to a recycle plant and had to watch them get dumped into this big huge silo type drum in that was mostly in the ground that had a blender contraption at the bottom that tore up and soaked the paper back into pulp. not sure if it got recycled after that, i think it did.. either way, i imagine that it goes somewhat like that.
Rob Robinson said,
December 5, 2007 @ 12:28 am
Thanks, Gavin. That’s wild.
SB, I think Curby containers are 96-gallons, but I’m not sure. I never was especially good at estimating volume.
I get lost going beyond two liters. Ha ha.