I routinely deposit my recyclables (paper, cardboard and glass/plastic) every week and often see both paper and recyclables dumped in plastic bags. The signs say “no plastic bags.” Duh — can people not read.
I propose that occasionally, there be a plastic patrol with folks at that location, catching the plastic baggers and telling them to take everything out of their bags and dispose in the correct bins. It could be a pop-up sort of thing so the transgressors will never know when they may be caught.
Wouldn’t be a bad idea to institute a fine as well. :)
We all need to pay attention and help recycle what we can in an intelligent manner.
— Karen Johnson Buncombe County
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18 thoughts on “Letter writer: Plastic patrol needed for errant recyclers”
Recycling is Dumb
Recycling is dumb. Yes Karen, dumb. I know it makes you feel good and self righteous, but it is killing the environment because it makes no sense. Do you like trees? Then throw that paper and cardboard away Karen because the trees that make up those products were intentionally planted so that they could be harvested and make paper and cardboard. What happens when you recycle paper? A tree dies. How does that make you feel? Glass? Glass is made of sand. Are you concerned that we are running out of sand on this planet? Silicon is the 8th most common element on earth. Aluminum? Well, that one actually makes sense which is why there has always been a secondary market where you can sell your aluminum for scrap rather than pay to have someone pick it up. Think we are running out of landfill space? We’re not. If we took 1/10th of 1% of the rangeland in this country it could hold 1,000 years worth of trash for the whole country. Here’s a recent New York Times OpEd piece that goes into the details. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/04/opinion/sunday/the-reign-of-recycling.html?_r=0
Wookie Planet
You know what they say about opinions and a__holes.
Tracy Rose
This comment does nothing to advance the discussion. No personal attacks, please.
Yared Sharot
I don’t see a problem with cardboard in Asheville; the homeless are putting it to good use to sleep on. In ISRAEL there aren’t any homeless, anyway.
Lulz
LOL, and with more lefty loonies playing Joe McCarthy but on the opposite side of the spectrum, we’ll all be living in cardboard boxes soon enough lulz. Next up, another committee to prosecute those who put plastic bags in their recycling bins even though they want to impose a garbage fee to encourage more recycling LOL. Lunacy being treated with insanity and why lefty loonies should be treated like the children they are.
Jason
With United States giving billions to Israel yearly; how could they possibly have any homeless??
mynameis
And _this_ advances the discussion, Tracy?
Tracy Rose
Well, I guess it’s a fine line sometimes. I think I may have misread that earlier comment, which I now see amounts to: Everyone has an opinion. The other ones in this thread are definitely straying from the points raised in the original letter. So, then: Let’s try to stay on topic, everyone.
Yared Sharot
In Israel, there are no personal attacks. Just terrorist attacks.
Peter Robbins
Your comment has nothing to do with the original letter, which is about people using plastic bags where they are not supposed to. The op-ed piece cited at the end also praises the very recycling of paper and cardboard you disdain. For a response to the remainder of the reflexively libertarian piece, see http://grist.org/climate-energy/is-recycling-as-awful-as-the-new-york-times-claims-not-remotely/.
Stewart
Good letter, and so sad to see the backlash against something so simple and reasonable.
Instead of a fine, which gets the phony Libertarians and Republicons so upset, how about random spot-checks with a surprise cash bonus for households that have all of their recycling and trash sorted properly?
jasmine
We have a government that collects our phone records, has access to all our emails and everything we’ve ever done on social media. They’ve enacted laws that allow them to persecute us without due process and detained us in definitely….. The last thing we need them to do is go through our garbage
I toss all my glass, paper, plastic and other trash into the trash can which eventually ends up in the landfill. Does anyone have a problem with that?
Peter Robbins
Hard to say without a more complete inventory. Would you mind sticking your head in that trash can?
James
Oooo, did I offend one of the Mother Earth worshippers? I certainly hope so. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to run out to Walmart and get some styrofoam cups, plates and non biodegradable plastic silverware. I love Walmart because they always have plastic bags with handles that are so much more convenient than those silly recycled paper ones at earth fare. Later!
Peter Robbins
You didn’t offend me. I was trying to school you in how to write sarcasm. Brevity, brevity.
Peter Robbins
And don’t say “oooo.” You need to go with something brawnier.
Recycling is dumb. Yes Karen, dumb. I know it makes you feel good and self righteous, but it is killing the environment because it makes no sense. Do you like trees? Then throw that paper and cardboard away Karen because the trees that make up those products were intentionally planted so that they could be harvested and make paper and cardboard. What happens when you recycle paper? A tree dies. How does that make you feel? Glass? Glass is made of sand. Are you concerned that we are running out of sand on this planet? Silicon is the 8th most common element on earth. Aluminum? Well, that one actually makes sense which is why there has always been a secondary market where you can sell your aluminum for scrap rather than pay to have someone pick it up. Think we are running out of landfill space? We’re not. If we took 1/10th of 1% of the rangeland in this country it could hold 1,000 years worth of trash for the whole country. Here’s a recent New York Times OpEd piece that goes into the details. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/04/opinion/sunday/the-reign-of-recycling.html?_r=0
You know what they say about opinions and a__holes.
This comment does nothing to advance the discussion. No personal attacks, please.
I don’t see a problem with cardboard in Asheville; the homeless are putting it to good use to sleep on. In ISRAEL there aren’t any homeless, anyway.
LOL, and with more lefty loonies playing Joe McCarthy but on the opposite side of the spectrum, we’ll all be living in cardboard boxes soon enough lulz. Next up, another committee to prosecute those who put plastic bags in their recycling bins even though they want to impose a garbage fee to encourage more recycling LOL. Lunacy being treated with insanity and why lefty loonies should be treated like the children they are.
With United States giving billions to Israel yearly; how could they possibly have any homeless??
And _this_ advances the discussion, Tracy?
Well, I guess it’s a fine line sometimes. I think I may have misread that earlier comment, which I now see amounts to: Everyone has an opinion. The other ones in this thread are definitely straying from the points raised in the original letter. So, then: Let’s try to stay on topic, everyone.
In Israel, there are no personal attacks. Just terrorist attacks.
Your comment has nothing to do with the original letter, which is about people using plastic bags where they are not supposed to. The op-ed piece cited at the end also praises the very recycling of paper and cardboard you disdain. For a response to the remainder of the reflexively libertarian piece, see http://grist.org/climate-energy/is-recycling-as-awful-as-the-new-york-times-claims-not-remotely/.
Good letter, and so sad to see the backlash against something so simple and reasonable.
Instead of a fine, which gets the phony Libertarians and Republicons so upset, how about random spot-checks with a surprise cash bonus for households that have all of their recycling and trash sorted properly?
We have a government that collects our phone records, has access to all our emails and everything we’ve ever done on social media. They’ve enacted laws that allow them to persecute us without due process and detained us in definitely….. The last thing we need them to do is go through our garbage
Too late. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_v._Greenwood.
I toss all my glass, paper, plastic and other trash into the trash can which eventually ends up in the landfill. Does anyone have a problem with that?
Hard to say without a more complete inventory. Would you mind sticking your head in that trash can?
Oooo, did I offend one of the Mother Earth worshippers? I certainly hope so. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to run out to Walmart and get some styrofoam cups, plates and non biodegradable plastic silverware. I love Walmart because they always have plastic bags with handles that are so much more convenient than those silly recycled paper ones at earth fare. Later!
You didn’t offend me. I was trying to school you in how to write sarcasm. Brevity, brevity.
And don’t say “oooo.” You need to go with something brawnier.