No Recycling?!!!!

Seriously? A town without a recycling program that includes glass? Not only is it disappointing...it's downright irresponsible.

D. and I were at a get-together this last Saturday night...throwing back a few cold ones and enjoying some good company over UFC pay-per-view. When I got up to get rid of my empty bottle, I was let in on the sad, sad news...Sequim doesn't recycle glass. I couldn't believe it. And though I should've just put the empties in a bag and brought them home to recycle, I didn't really want the open containers in my car (no need for misunderstandings).

It led to another subject...in my brief confusion over what to do with the empty bottle, a conversation about alternatives ensued. Could residents simply collect their own bottles and take them in for recycling? Is there a place to take them that is closer than the Port Angeles dump? Sequim sure isn't making it easy to do the right thing. Which means, most people are just going to throw the stuff away. Oh sure, some will feel a twinge of guilt, but most people are too busy to worry about it. That's why the city should be taking matters into their own hands. It should be so easy to do the right thing that people would rather do that than anything else. It's good city management and good stewardship of the land and earth.

Of course, I was met with jest..."I know it's going to be difficult for you to throw that away, since you have that little project going to save the earth."

Now, I know it was a joke. No hard feelings. But, the crazy thing is, there really are people out there who see no reason to even try. They think it's a waste of time and money and that the recycled material just ends up in the landfill anyway..."they" just recycle it so we can feel better about ourselves. I will admit, this probably does happen in some places. But, not here.

And ignoring it...assuming there's nothing we can do or that somebody else will do it for us...is suicide. I choose to at least do my part, no matter how small it might be. And yes, it is an issue of conscious. Thank goodness I have one that tells me that throwing away perfectly good recyclable materials is bad. And thank goodness I still feel guilty about it.

I should.

Besides. I want this to be second nature to my son. The next generation shouldn't even think of throwing something away that can be reused or recycled. I don't think they can afford to be that wasteful.

Actually...neither can we.