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

Renew mag subscriptions online, save a tree

A thought occurred to me today, just as I was about to drop two magazine subscription renewal envelopes in the mailbox:

Why not do this online?

I subscribe to two monthly magazines, Wired and Harper's, and both have been bugging me for months to renew my subscription. Harper's even sent me a letter saying that, by renewing early, I could save them the cost of several more notices.

Now I realize what a smart idea that was. Renew early and save the company postage and printing costs AND save on the fuel it takes to ship that envelope from Red Oak, Iowa to my apartment in Jackson, Michigan. Harper's wins, and so does the environment.

But then I thought, shucks, I betcha I could do this online. Sure enough, both sites had a renewal section. All I needed was my name and address, and a debit card, and in two minutes both subscriptions were renewed. No postage needed, no mail infrastructure to engage, no check to write, no yucky envelope taste on my tongue.

I should've thought of this a long time ago...

Free e-cycling from the Post Office

Good news: the U.S. Post Office is offering free envelopes for e-cycling in 1,500 office locations nation-wide.

Says their press release:

Customers use free envelopes found in 1,500 Post Offices to mail back inkjet cartridges, PDAs, Blackberries, digital cameras, iPods and MP3 players – without having to pay for postage.

Postage is taken care of by the Clover Technologies Group, an organization that "recycles, remanufactures and remarkets inkjet cartridges, laser cartridges and small electronics."

It sounds like the perfect marriage between a need and someone willing to pay for it: the Clover Group pays to have electronics sent their way, and they repackage them for profit. The Post Office just serves as the middle person.

According to the press release, this is just a pilot program set for 10 areas across the U.S., but "could become a national program this fall if the pilot program proves successful."

Let me tell you: make it easy for people to send their e-waste, and any program could be successful.

No word on whether Jackson County gets to be included in the pilot communities, but we'll let you know.

The space of travel.

Interesting to note how much space these people take up compared to the modes of transportation they choose.

It almost looks like the bus, which carries the same amount of people as all those cars, take us less space than the bikes.

Who wants to say public transportation is a waste now? Think about all the raw materials those cars eat up.

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