Recycling makes more sense than burning.

I wish I had the clear conscience of those who say burning our trash is the best method of disposal. But when I read facts like recycling a ton of paper saves two barrels of oil, or that recycling creates six times as many jobs as landfilling, I can't help but wonder if trash burners are thinking of America's best economic interests.

Burning trash in a barrel, as in days of old, may make our hearts and hands warm and fuzzy. The reality is, it's harmful to everything from our forests to our national fossil fuel consumption levels. In these days of $100-a-barrel oil, recycling seems the patriotic thing to do.

Maybe trash burners learned nothing from their Depressio-era relatives, or those who lived through World War II; they knew better than to let a scrap of metal or rubber go to waste. They thought long-term instead of short-term.

We're not making trash haulers rich by recycling. We're creating jobs, reducing government inolvement in how we handle our garbage, and improving the air we breathe. Who can argue against that?

The trash burning mindset is an old-fashioned one, one that is cherry-picked by those who support the county incinerator despite the evidence and benefits of recycling, and ignore the wisdom of our elders. They taught us to never let a thing go to waste. My grandma still recycles all her plastic bags and Cool Whip containers to reuse. She's taught me a lot. Maybe she needs to teach others.

In this age of disposable everything, there's a lot we could learn.


-by Dave Lawrence, Recycling Jackson VP

Trash times are changing

I would like to thank the Citizen Patriot for its public stance on the outrageous cost of trash disposal in our county. The incinerator cost is a stealth tax for the residents of this county and we have five years to learn to live without it.

Just like the infamous county proclamation that since people would not recycle in 1988 so they will not recycle now, our residents have proven that times have significantly changed. Our recycling rates now exceed 10 percent of the waste stream. People are interested in recycling and we need to capitalize on that for the benefit of all.

Concerning the program we have in place, Recycling Jackson is well on its way toward that comprehensive and cost-effective program. Working with local service providers, we have 20-plus drop-off locations in and around the county. The program accepts a more diverse array of plastics, any plastic marked #1 to #7, than neighboring counties. We have locations that accept Styrofoam, a material shunned by others for recycling. Thanks to the Jackson County Community Foundation we also have a very comprehensive electronics recycling program.

While we have a great program we do have a few steps left to take. We need more recycling opportunities for rural areas. We need to cooperatively work on educating folks about what can be recycled and need to deal with the midnight dumping that occurs at the recycling locations.

Thanks to a vote of confidence in the way of a grant from the JCCF-MACI Fund, this month we hired a community educator to address these items and many more. To assure long term success, we now need the support and cooperation of the city and county government to allow us to implement the last portions of our convenient, comprehensive and cost-effective program.

by Steve Noble, President

Starve the incinerator.

In reference to the article on October 24, 2007 (“Trash Flow at Troubled Incinerator Increases"), why don’t the residents in Jackson County do their best to put the incinerator out of business?

A quote from the article stated “the amount of trash being diverted to the landfill also has increased, but (Steve) Shotwell said that is because trash flow overall has increased.” This is good news?

I find it disheartening that trash flow has increased. When will the residents of Jackson County understand that the trash hauling fees they pay are directly tied to the $91.41 per-ton tipping fee? By reducing the amount of material they put on the curb each week as trash, they can save themselves money, as well as reduce the overall trash flow.

A lot of the material that is put out as trash can be disposed of in many of the areas recycling collection points. This will reduce the trash flow to the incinerator, which in turn could eventually lead to a decreased need for the incinerator itself.

At a recent electronic waste collection event coordinated by Recycling Jackson, over 24,000 pounds (12 tons) of “e-waste” was collected. This was a six hour event, and if that material was disposed of as “trash” and taken to the incinerator, the cost would have been just over $1,000 in tipping fees. By collecting this material during the event, the burning or burying of this material in the McGill Landfill was prevented.

Recycling can be an emotional issue of “saving the environment”, but for those that are looking for ways to reduce expenses at home, simply removing the recyclable material from their trash can save them money. Businesses that remove recyclable material from their trash can realize savings up to 50% on their trash hauling costs.

It is time for Jackson County residents to make it a goal to reduce the dependence on the incinerator, and force the local government to find a different way to generate income from trash; 6,563 tons of trash generated nearly $600,000 in tipping fees in September.

If the county became more proactive on recycling, couldn’t we have generated income from an aggressive recycling program, and reduce that 6,563 tons of trash being burned or buried in September?

I think so.


[by David Milis, written as a letter to the editor to the Jackson Citizen Patriot.]