Here in Fairhaven, the town has to pay a company to collect trash and recycling. But while the town then has to pay $50 a ton to get rid of the trash, the company takes care of the recycling for free.
So what’s the problem? Only 14% of the town recycles and many households still use those iconic, tiny blue bins. As Ariel Wittenberg reports in the Standard-Times, now Fairhaven is looking to invest in bigger recycling bins to encourage bigger savings:
Department of Public Works Superintendent Vincent Furtado said that his office recently came to an agreement with ABC Disposal to start using larger trash and recycling carts, much like those now being used in New Bedford.
Residents will be able to throw any recyclables, be they paper, plastic or something else, into the carts, which hold 96 gallons. The recycling carts are a third bigger than the 64-gallon trash carts, something Furtado said is meant to encourage more recycling in town.
“We will only pick up what fits in those containers,” Furtado said. “The hope is that will make people think about what they put in each of them.” […]
“What’s the difference between throwing a milk carton in one container or the other? Well, in one it costs the town money and in the other it won’t,” he said. “When the town saves money, the taxpayers save money.”
Yes, recycling conserves precious resources like wood, metal, oil (plastic is made from petroleum), energy and water. Yes, recycling conserves space in our increasingly-crowded (and sometimes dangerous) landfills.
But even if you’re some selfish jerk who doesn’t care about any of that, recycle because it saves you money.
Cross-posted from The Green Miles
