Recycling vidrio

LUMBERTON — Although state law now requires that they recycle all glass containers, local bars and restaurants serving alcohol can forget finding a site in Robeson County to take their bottles.

“I’m not familiar with any place in the county that recycles glass. There’s no market here for it,” County Manager Ken Windley said. “They (bars and restaurants) will have no choice but to contract out of the area to get rid of their glass.

“At this time, the county has no plans to collect and recycle glass. We would lose a lot of money. It would cost us three times more to recycle than it does to dispose of glass in a landfill.”

The mandatory recycling bill, passed by the General Assembly in 2005, became effective Jan. 1. The new law requires that all establishments with permits to serve alcoholic beverages separate, store and recycle all beverage containers generated in their place of business. It also prohibits the disposal of containers either through landfilling or incineration.

Bob Shiles, a fellow Robesonian reporter was assigned to this story. His words don't bother me at all. The county manager's words, however, tick me off so bad I would like to catapult the county's landfill right on top of ... .

Being a self-proclaimed environmentalist, I often think the world would be better if everyone saw it through my red-lined, black-framed glasses.

I try to do simple things like use old cereal boxes to wrap Christmas gifts and keep the lights off as much as I can — no it's not just because I'm trying to save money. I remember as a child being embarrassed because my father would pack my school lunch sandwich in the same bag the deli meat came in. But now, I do the same thing.

The sad thing about Windley's words is the mentality behind them. "It costs too much to recycle" is a perspective that should be buried in that dagum landfill.

There are ways in which recycling doesn't have to be expensive. One issue I have with this city (me and the few environmentalists I've hooked up with here) is that trash pick up is a monopoly. It costs the same amount whether you fill your whole trash can or use up one-fourth of it. Or even if it's completely empty, you still pay $19 a month.

City of Lumberton, Robeson County, here's an idea: Do what other people have done. Start charging people more if they throw more away. Have them buy garbage bags at a local grocer for a certain amount. The more you use, the more you pay. What does this do? It uses the ridiculous amount of power that money has to infiltrate what is not only good, but necessary for future generations.

If the cost of recycling is too high, then only the whacky like me will continue to do it. But if the leaders of this county use the smart brains God gave them (thanks for the phrase mom), I 'm sure they can come up with a way to cut the costs whether it is for a business or an individual.

Please someone tell me, what is the cost benefit analysis of the bigger picture. The cost of recycling glass somehow is more expenseive than throwing every bottle away just to make new ones? Do what New York and California and some other smart states do. Tag an extra five cents on every glass bottle or aluminum can at the grocery store and give people back that money when they bring it back. It ain't rocket science.

If the cost of throwing trash in a landfill is so low, that landfill is only going to grow and grow and grow. And the daughters of the sons of the daughters of the leaders today will bury their dead, grow their gardens and plant their building foundations on top of waste ... all because their forefathers said it cost too much to learn how to reuse and recycle.