On October 15th, bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind - the environment. Every blogger will post about the environment in their own way and relating to their own topic. Our aim is to get everyone talking towards a better future.
I know, many people use their blog to further good causes every day while I complain about the awful horrors of living and parking in Washington, DC. But I think many people who do fight for these causes forget that most people not only aren't fighting, they're not even aware.
The wife has complained about Metro riders who don't recycle the Express newspaper. This morning, there were two down escalators at Columbia Heights. I went down the one that the girl with the large suitcase didn't choose. At the bottom of her escalator, I saw a copy of Express that someone had dropped. As I was heading to the bottom, planning to pick it up, a woman on that escalator picked it up. "Wow," I thought. "I never see people pick up trash in the Metro station".
And then she turned left to throw the paper in the trash, rather than right to recycle it. It got me thinking. I know that my first thought if I have paper trash is to recycle it. In fact, I've been reading Express this week because I haven't been to the library. They're doing elevator work at Pentagon City, and the recycle bins are blocked. So I've been putting the Express in my bag and recycling it at home, or at Columbia Heights in the evening.
But lots of people don't even think to recycle. I'm sure this woman didn't consciously choose not to recycle - the thought probably never crossed her mind.
That's why it's important to tell people about the little things you can do to help the environment. It's no harder to recycle Express than it is to throw it away, so you can't say it's hard to recycle (At least in this instance). Compact fluorescent bulbs are cheaper in the long run. Cutting down on energy use at home will save you money. There are plenty of things that you can do that are easy, that don't require huge lifestyle changes or lots of money, and that really do make a difference. But people have to know about these things.
Once you get people started thinking about how their actions can help the environment, the effect can snowball. If that woman thought about recycling Express, she might wonder why she doesn't recycle more at home.
Anyway, join me and tons of others on October 15th for Blog Action Day.
Good topic! An interesting
Good topic! An interesting fact (which I may get wrong) is that over 70% of landfill space is occupied by paper (figure remembered from "The World Without Us"). At my apartment complex, the most infuriating mixup is the corrugated cardboard instead of paper recycling. Some people just don't get that cardboard like material (beer containers, for example) is not actually corrugated. Anyway, the more people we get recycling the better. More work and harder adjustments are required, but start where we can.
I'm not sure if 70% is the
I'm not sure if 70% is the right number, but that's in the ballpark of what I've heard. I'm positive it's a huge amount, and much, much more than bottles and cans.
One of the things I love about our recycling is that they don't really care - they take corrugated, paper, newspaper, magazines, whatever.
Does the stuff have to be
Does the stuff have to be separated? That is where our system breaks down. People don't know the difference between corrugated, mixed paper, containers, etc.
Nope. One can for bottles,
Nope. One can for bottles, cans, and plastic, one for paper. It's a great system from our end, except that the clowns who pick up our trash and recycling forget to come about once a month. I think we're getting a new service at the beginning of next month, though.
That lady was trying to
That lady was trying to conserve bleach runoff (used during the recycling process to bleach
the paper) from polluting our lakes and oceans.
Post new comment