Here are some questions regarding the sustainability of this service…
- Should the recycling service have both depot and curbside components?
- Is bi-weekly recycling pickup adequate?
- Is the depot there only for people too disorganized to put their recycling out on a schedule? Or are there other users who don’t have the option of curbside, (ie small businesses and residents from outside the municipality).
- What cost is there for the additional service and could the total cost be reduced by reducing the depot service?
- What portion of the cost is related to the cost of fuel?
- Where are the materials sent for processing and how are they transported?
- What is the carbon offset, if any, of recycling in Castlegar?
These concerns and questions are not unique to Castlegar, but should be asked critically of any areas providing this service to residents, and as the cost of fuel increases, cities should ensure that the value gained from providing the service is economically and environmentally viable.
After years of education, it seems that the mantra of reduce, reuse and recycle has been condensed down to recycle as though it is the easiest to acheive. If fact, it is the most costly and inefficient point in the consumer cycle to be attempting to maximise benefits of material savings.
What recycling stories do you have?
Technorati Tags: recycling, curbside, curbside recycling, wate management, solid waste, reduce, reuse, recycle
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Mike Thomas
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Encouraging the recycling of materials that presently cost a lot to transport and process, (both financially and environmentally) just doesn’t make sense. People who actually care about this stuff want governments to make decisions that are the best not just the best looking!