It’s not too often that I let myself loose on ColumbusUnderground these days. Mostly because I don’t have time, and mostly because I want to remain as moderate as possible. It is after all my job to be the moderator.
But last week I let myself go just a bit and yelled and screamed on the topic of recycling. At least it’s a good issue to get worked up and passionate about, right?
If you hadn’t heard, City Council made the tough decision last week to axe their recycling subsidization program. This program was putting nearly $400,000 per year towards subsidizing the cost of curb-side pickup, which still costs $5 per month for subscribers to take advantage of. It was reported that a mere 5% of trash customers are paying for this service.
I haven’t seen stats on how many subscribers there were before the subsidy began, and we won’t know how ending this program will affect the drop-off of current subscribers for awhile, but I’m going to take a wild stab and say that the program really wasn’t helping at all. The monthly rate is going to jump from $5 to a whopping $8.25 now that the subsidy is ending. I really don’t think that’s going to be much of a make-or-break deal for those 5% of customers who opted into the program.
Personally, I think it was the right call to make. It was a valid attempt to encourage recycling, but it wasn’t helping.
Now, the bigger issue at hand… What do we do next? Do we make recycling free and just completely subsidize it? Do we start charging more for trash pickup to encourage recycling? Do we encourage the use of drop-off bins, (which had record success in 2007)? I really don’t know.
For now though, Anne & I are going to continue to use the drop-off bins, as we have been doing for years. It’s not that hard at all to have two small trash cans in the kitchen instead of one large one. We typically fill up one large black trash bag of recyclable material for every medium white trash bag of garbage (about a 2:1 ratio). Dropping off isn’t much of a problem either as we head toward the Kroger in the Brewery District, or the one in Weinland Park fairly regularly even though we don’t do much of our grocery shopping at either place.
This system works fine for us… but I’m always open for trying something else if City Council puts a new, better plan into place soon.
I think you’ve hit it right on.
Certainly it would be nice if we could find a way to MAKE everyone take part … after all, we take it for granted that the city arranges to have our trash hauled away, and for that reason you’re sort of expected to have it hauled away. Why not extend that logic to having your recycling treated separately.
However, this is hard in practice, first and foremost because so few people really want it. I remember the Mayor floating a Chicago-style blue bag recycling proposal a couple of years ago, which was silly, but it illustrates that people are thinking creatively about it.
In the end, we probably should just look for ways to support the drop-off locations for those of us who want to expend a little effort, and focus on the more important issues of reducing packaging waste in the products we buy and reducing the number of throw-away products we buy.
While I agree that supporting the drop-off bins are important, I really think there are a lot of folks out there who are waiting for free curb-side pickup. I really think that’s the only option for a lot of people who don’t want to spend that little bit of time or energy to use other methods.
Those same people probably aren’t going to be thinking much about packaging waste either, because there’s no immediate, direct consequences in buying items with reduced packaging.
Oh, I also forgot to mention that Anne & I are going to be composing this summer now that we have a yard and will have a garden soon (once the the snow lets up), which should further reduce our trash amounts.
In terms of thinking creatively, what if there was some sort of pay involved for recycling. Something like can deposits in Michigan. So then enterprising youngsters/ hustlers can go through people’s trash and make a little money, lazy people don’t have to worry about making an extra trip, and the landfills get a little more space in them.
Although I can see people not wanting bums picking through their trash, so my idea needs some work.
Maybe if you could just get the lazy people to separate out their recyclables, then leave them out for others to recycle.
I am one of the 5% and I am furious that the subsidy is gone. Not just because I have to pay more, but because I know that there are thousands of people out there who may be willing to pay the $5 a month, but aren’t going to pay any more than that. $5 just seems to be a price point that people on the edge will go for.
But I have always been of the opinion that free is the only way to get a lot of people to participate. I’ve personally heard several people scoff when I tell them that recycling costs $5 per month. Personally I want to smack people who think like that, but that’s another issue! I think that many of these same people would do it if it were free.
The point is, the average person doesn’t realize the impact that they have on our environment with their careless, wasteful lifestyles. Most have never known anything else, so they don’t see it as a problem. This is why I think that local government needs to not only make is easier, but make it more convenient and more economical to recycle than to not recycle. The can deposits that have been mentioned here would be a step in the right direction. But in my opinion, the only complete solution would be a trash sorting facility. This way everyone recycles, whether they want to or not!
The more I’ve thought about this, the more I’ve been leaning towards making recycling pickup free and adding expenses to trash pickup to help fund the efforts. Not only would it encourage people to recycle, but also would encourage them to purchase recyclable products (or products with less packaging) so that they don’t fill up their trash so frequently and have to pay more for it.
Either way, the leadership in Columbus needs to step up to the plate on this issue! Let’s get something rolling!