Not separating your recyclables from your trash can hurt
When San Franciscans start taking out the trash this fall, they’ll have to follow strict recycling laws…or else. As reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, a new ordinance taking effect Fall 2009 will require residents to sort their household trash as follows: recyclables in the blue bin, compost in the green bin and trash in the black bin. Sloppy sorting, e.g. placing recyclables or compost in a black bin, could result in a warning and eventually a $100 fine if the violations persist.
Opponents of the new law say it’s impossible to get it (garbage sorting) perfect all the time. Young children and visitors in the home can throw things in the wrong bin; or a passer by could chuck a plastic bottle into your black bin after you’ve set it out on collection day. Is San Francisco going too far? I don’t think so. In the first place, members of the Board of Supervisors who passed the legislation say only egregious violators will be fined. Secondly, it’s damn important how we dispose of our waste today. Too important to continue to look the other way while millions of Americans permit recyclable and compostable materials to end up in the landfill.
Recycling is no longer something we can elect to do in order to feel better about ourselves. It is now something we must do–wherever it is possible anyway–to help solve a number of problems, just one of which it too much trash. Packaging, in particular, is the largest and fastest growing segment of the waste stream by volume. And with more and more people added to the planet everyday, finding places to put our trash will become increasingly difficult.
But it’s not just the physical bulk of trash that demands more recycling. Recycling also creates valuable raw material that reduces the amount of virgin material we must extract or manufacture. And recycling saves massive amounts of energy. For example, it takes less energy to manufacture steel, aluminum, glass and paper products from recycled material than from new (virgin) material. In one year, recycling reduces greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to removing 39.4 million cars from the road.
So, is it fair to fine people as much as $100 for careless garbage sorting? I think it’s as fair as any fine that is levied to try and correct behavior that has consequence that extend beyond the home front. Besides, there’s a sure way to avoid the fine…follow the rules.
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