Greenlist: Will mandatory recycling catch on?

>> Recycle, or else wallow in your trash. Non-recyclers in Westchester County in NY will get a yellow warning sticker. A second offense means a red sticker -- and no trash pickup! Think we can get a similar program started in LA -- or at least Santa Monica?

>> Where retired Metro buses go. Old buses get auctioned off, mostly to scrap dealers. Last month, the going prices fell between $1,900 and $2,900.

>> The Super Bowl's going greenish. Plans include "planting 9,000 trees in the state, though only 3,500 of them are actually expected to survive." Those figures sound somewhat better to me than our own Million Trees LA program, though luckily for Villaraigosa, no one's really keeping a good count.

>> Polar bears: Still not considered an endangered species. "The decision whether or not to list the polar bear as a threatened species, which could require sweeping policy changes affecting oil and gas exploration, as well a fossil fuel combustion, will be delayed by as much as another month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Monday." Many scientific studies point to polar bears' grave endangerment.

Photo by ClydeHouse via Flickr

Comments

[DM]

You might want to rethink the whole "Let's leave trash around" thing as rodent infestation is not something you want.

[Mike C]

Of course, the non-recycling scofflaws will wallow in their trash. They would never dream of dumping it somewhere else. Not a single one of them would ever consider going off behind the local supermarket and dumping their non-recycled trash in a bin.

And of course, the supermarket would also receive 'non-recycling' notifications leaving them to do what with their trash.

Oh great idea, let's jump on this one. Trash heaps for all.

[Siel]

I guess the idea is that people will get their recycling act together before the rats show up (or at least soon after :P)

Mike C -- I get that you're being sarcastic, but from just a pragmatic standpoint for the individual: Isn't it easier just to separate the recycling than it is to haul one's trash to the supermarket all the time? Even if I didn't care about the environment, I sorta think I'd just start recycling to save myself the hassle of becoming a trash hauler....

Relatedly, looks like in Naples, people really ARE wallowing in their trash. Trash pickups have stopped, ostensibly because all landfills are full. I bet they wish they'd recycled more....

[Mike C]

Why would they recycle after the waste company has cut them off? Isn't that what you were advocating? Recycle or wallow.

Nobody is going to wallow, if they can get away with it. I live in a rural area, and guess what? Not a day goes by that a new stove, tire pile, or trash heap isn't dumped on a road around here. It easy enough to take that stuff to a recycling center, folks don't. It easy enough to have it picked up by the waste company, folks don't. They can even get paid for it, though obviously not enough, because it ends up in a big pile on the side of the road.

And yet with all those alternatives, folks still dump their junk everywhere. Now you want to impose a regulation that cuts off their basic trash service?

Here is what I see as the problem with your statements. Your logic is that because you recycle we all should. The fact of the matter is that most folks will find a way around your imposing your lifestyle on them.

[m]

Mike, I would have to argue with the fact that taking those things is "easy enough" because it can be very frustrating to get rid of something even if you REALLY want to recycle it. I live in apartment building and we still haven't had a recycling bin delivered yet, so I take everything away myself. Most people won't do that. Some people don't even put things in recycling bins when they have no responsibility after that step and the bin is easily accessible. A couple of years ago when my microwave died, I wanted to be responsible and drop it at a nearby hazardous waste site near Griffith Park. Armed with a flyer from the mail with a map and phone number, I ended up driving for an hour and a half in circles because the site was in a very bizarre industrial spot that was difficult to see and even more difficult to get to (many one way streets, dead end streets, freeway exits and the such). I ran into people also looking for it, but they couldn't find the site either. I tried calling the phone number and no one answered. And this was for a site that I was sent info in the mail about! Recycling newspaper in LA if you don't have a blue bin can be a huge hassle as well since it doesn't have the same appeal as CRV cans and bottles.

If you aren't actively seeking recycling information, it can be very difficult to figure out how to get rid of stuff. If the info doesn't easily pop out at you when you are in the middle of doing something, many people won't deal with waiting around until the information can be located-- they want it gone NOW. If info has been distributed and it is easy to do, I really don't see any issue for making everyone recycle, unless you are have cut yourself off from society. That's how society works. You are part of a group and there are rules you follow when you are part of that group. Maybe recycling things is part of a lifestyle choice, but when you throw something in the trash, you are also imposing your lifestyle on every single person and animal that will be left once you are gone - much like you are experiencing the "lifestyle" of the people that choose to drop stuff near your home.