Editorial:

Restored recycling funding is good, but reducing waste is even better

Posted 7/16/19

Many local residents made their support for recycling clear in recent weeks, and thankfully, the Park County Commission took notice.

After commissioners’ initial 3-2 decision to halve …

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Editorial:

Restored recycling funding is good, but reducing waste is even better

Posted

Many local residents made their support for recycling clear in recent weeks, and thankfully, the Park County Commission took notice.

After commissioners’ initial 3-2 decision to halve recycling funding led to a public backlash, we’re glad the commission listened to residents’ concerns and reversed course.

Though the cuts made up a minuscule part of the county’s overall budget — just 0.025 percent of more than $28.36 million in spending — the impact to Powell Valley Recycling would have been great. Commissioners made the right decision to maintain funding for recycling efforts.

We also applaud the volunteers and employees who work hard to ensure Powell Valley Recycling continues. It’s a tough time for recycling centers everywhere after China stopped accepting many recyclables last year. With a glut of plastics, cardboard, paper and other materials, prices have plunged, forcing some communities to scrap their recycling efforts altogether.

Others no longer accept materials for free. In Billings, Pacific Steel and Recycling recently started charging a $5 drop off fee for cardboard and paper products.

“There’s a supply and demand, and just right now there is an overwhelming amount of supply [for cardboard and paper products],” branch manager Jason Heath told the Billings Gazette this month.

While we continue to support recycling, we also believe it’s time for residents to focus not just on recycling, but reusing materials and reducing waste.

Americans generated 262.4 million tons of garbage in 2015 (the most recent data year available). That amounts to nearly 5 pounds per person each day, and is a whopping 60 percent increase from 1985, according to The Atlantic.

Unfortunately, much of that waste ends up in landfills or worse yet, in streams, rivers or the ocean.

“Americans are going to have to come to terms with a new reality: All those toothpaste tubes and shopping bags and water bottles that didn’t exist 50 years ago need to go somewhere, and creating this much waste has a price we haven’t had to pay so far,” The Atlantic wrote this spring.

Though it will take a major shift in our culture, Americans need to reduce how much we consume. Locally, we can start by taking simple steps in our everyday routines — bringing a reusable bag to the grocery store, trying to buy in bulk and avoiding disposable items like plastic water bottles. If you’re receiving piles of junk mail and paper bills each week, contact companies to be removed from their mailing lists or switch to electronic billing. Donate used clothing, and consider buying secondhand items — Powell has great thrift and consignment stores to choose from, plus you’re benefiting the economy by shopping locally.

And, yes, it’s also important to support Powell Valley Recycling and take your recyclables there. Though the recycling center must grapple with changing markets and challenges, it can’t succeed without the community’s continued support.

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