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(10/29/97)-I was doing some research on apartment complex recycling the other day when I watched what I fear is an all too typical scenario unfold. A Keene (NH) State College student, on his way to class, was walking by the designated solid waste disposal area of an apartment complex. Next to the dumpster for refuse was a container for recycling very clearly marked to accept cans, bottles, #1 and #2 plastic and newspaper. This particular student had a can of soda in his hand and as he walked by the dumpster, he nonchalantly pitched the can in the rubbish.
Now I guess at least the can ended up in a disposal container instead of being pitched in the bushes, but this wasn't a matter of not having a recycling container conveniently available. This was a totally unconscious act. When a critical decision was to be made, there was no thought given to the consequences of that decision. Of course, the world isn't going to come to an end because this person tossed an aluminum can in the trash, but the cumulative effect of aluminum cans being tossed in the trash gives pause for thought.
Examples of energy savings through recycling abound,
but the aluminum can is the king of energy savings. Throwing that aluminum
can in the trash, where it will end up being buried in the landfill, is
equivalent to filling that container full of gasoline and dumping it on
the ground. That's a significant amount of energy.
Watching the aluminum can gracefully settle into a heap of refuse was more
than I could stand. I just couldn't help myself. My eyes wide with disbelief,
I blurted, "There's a recycling bin ." He turned around, a little
chagrined, said, "Oh, sorry," and continued on to class. I wonder
if the next time he will put the can in the recycling bin? The optimistic
side of my personality believes he will.
It was not my intention to single this person out
and make him feel like a jerk. To be sure, each day, thousands of pounds
of recyclables are spewed out the back of refuse trucks into the landfill,
removed from the human connection that put it there in the first place.
My intention was to call attention to a moment in time where a decision
was made. This same scenario plays out thousands of times each day in Keene.
Given a little thought, maybe recycling will be the first option.
Charlie says: "You can be sure at least that aluminum can was recycled. Duncan reached in the dumpster and then tossed the can in the recycling bin."
Duncan Watson is the solid waste coordinator
for the Keene Public Works Department.