In my pursuit of all things green, I discovered the sanitation department in my county has a curbside recycling program. I thought to myself, "This is just what I need!" Hauling everything to the farmers market just wasn't cutting it anymore. Picture me lugging several bags of plastics and glasses then running around the market looking at a sea of bins trying to figure out where the tops to the bottles go since they have separate corridors from the green, brown, and clear glass bottles - which are also grouped separately.
My excitement quickly turned to perplexity when I learned I would have to pay $30 to participate. Yep, it will cost you $30 to "borrow" one of the county-owned blue bins. I suddenly had a flashback and remembered that this fee is what kept me from joining the program a few years prior. I mean, I pay my property taxes every year so why doesn't that include the cost to recycle? After all, there is money being made from recycled goods but the majority of the citizens doing the recycling don't get a piece of the pie.
Although I still didn't think that was a cost I should eat, I paid it anyway. I signed the check and stared at it for a minute before allowing it to leave my hands and never to be seen again; in the end I knew that my decision to recycle was in essence, priceless.
In hopes that one day it will be priceless for everyone, I called Sherry Arnold, the Dekalb County Recycle Coordinator, to find out a little more on why citizens have to incur this fee. She informed me that the county board of commissioners has made it a voluntary, instead of a mandatory program. So because of this they can't apply the cost to my property taxes. Right away I envisioned a possible solution could be to make it mandatory, or simply apart of the norm. It's a great move toward green living to have every home equipped with recycling bins to encourage recycling. It's the wave of the future.
"As of right now we have 32,000 customers and they're signing up every day," according to Arnold. I did the math: 32,000 customers x $30 a pop is $960,000 profit the county has made thus far from this "voluntary" program. I'm willing to bet it will remain voluntary for this very reason. There is definitely money being made in recycling efforts around the country. Going green is the new "thing" and people are finding ways to make green very profitable.
So then I had one question left that needed entertaining: "When is my recycle bin coming?" I have stacks of goods just waiting to be renewed and truth be told, this is the reason that prompted me to call them in the first place. I've been waiting for three weeks for it to arrive - one week longer than the said arrival. Arnold informed me they are getting 100-200 requests a week for the bins. They have been bombarded with request and are behind on fulfilling orders.
So it seems that the recycle revolution is in full swing! Knowing that my bin hasn't arrived because of all the like-minded people signing up, actually made me feel comfortable about enduring the unexpected delay. The mere fact that I'm not alone and that others are starting to wake up and do their part to better the earth made me feel a part of a new movement - a new consciousness. It may cost us 30 bucks, but we recoup that by having a more sustainable place to live for generations to come.
What are you doing to join the recycle revolution? It's not just about recycling cans anymore so hit me up and share your green efforts!
