More on Recycling
 

Here is another interesting article on recycling. It reinforces what we have been seeing from our thrash haulers and District Government.

Here’s why recyclables in Orange County are going to the dump

Yard/organic garden waste, carboard, newspaper, can all be shedded and composted.
Wife and I do exactly that and make lovely compost for our garden.
Have several plants doing it on industrial scale in UK.

Also if it's going to the dump, that's fine - it's turning into compost right there and providing for new plant growth. That's what happened to our landfill up north. Had all kinds of shrubs, weeds, wildflowers, and even trees started growing on it. They ultimately shut the landfill down when it resembled more of a hill than a landfill, and then they installed dozens of solar panels and hooked them up to the municipal buildings.

Same thing happened with the local landfill we used to use up north. Problem with that is that they now have to truck everything a long way to a different dump. Trash removal costs went way up, not to mention the increased carbon footprint required to truck away the trash. On a more positive note, they are opening up a dog park on the old landfill/solar farm site.

They would have had to find a new landfill anyway since that one was full. They can't expand indefinitely afterall, and this one was right on the bank of the Quinnipiac River. The WPCA would've had a few words to say about it if they tried to enlarge the landfill into the river. As would the residents of the state, among others.

I'll never forget when they shut it down for good - they had to spray some kind of thing over the entire property, and the resulting stench was nauseating, even from a couple blocks away when the breeze blew in the humid summer.

The entrance is still used for bulk trash collection but it all goes into dumpsters and gets hauled away.

We had a whole different part of the town for recycling and yard waste; chipped wood was available for mulch for free to anyone who wanted to shovel it off the mulch pile, and the pile was outside the gate of the recycling yard so anyone could drop it off or take it whenever they wanted.

I think this whole recycling thing is a scam. If it were really important, they would make it mandatory like other States and Counties do. And, they would provide detailed information to the residents about how much it costs, where the recycled stuff goes, how it is processed, and how much money it saves, if anything. What products do they make from the recycled stuff? Where is the tranparency about this recycling process? Also, do they get Federal money to recycle? How much? We are supposed to blindly accept that this whole process is good for the environment.

Do you blindly accept that there is zero impact on the environment by fracking for oil, stripping forests of trees, injecting cancerous chemicals into the soil, spraying from airplanes other chemicals that blow through farms, deplete coal from deep in the ground, leaving vast cavernous trails where there was once solid rock, churning oil into plastics that -cannot- compost and decompose, and therefore has to be piled up somewhere? Do you blindly accept that there is zero impact on the animals that live in these areas, and that those animals can't possibly be part of the food chain, and so if they go extinct, who cares?

If you don't blindly accept that, then you must blindly accept that the alternative - to preserve the environment instead of polluting it, is good for the environment.

Our society isn't going to go backward - we will keep moving forward. But we can still slow down the destruction. We don't have to give up modern conveniences but we CAN adjust our attitudes toward conservation and preservation, and take steps as individuals and corporations to conserve, and preserve, when possible and however practical.

I'm all in favor of protecting the environment. But, I just want the facts about how effective this recycling process really is and the cost. And, why is it voluntary and not mandated? If it is so effective, then why not require everyone to participate? There are a lot of people in The Villages who don't recycle anything, and they are not violating any rules or laws.

There have been several meetings and workshops about the subject, just attend one and they answer all your questions.

It is voluntary because the Florida government has chosen not to mandate it. Why have they chosen not to? I don't know. I'm new here. You should ask your legislators if you're truly interested in the answers to your questions.

Many questions may be answered by these NSCUDD workshop videos found of the districtgov.org web site

NSCUDD

Recycling
 

Watch the documentary on PBS about recycling ( probably on demand). It will better explain the issue.

Should be mandated because eventually the landfill we send our garbage to will fill up also. The recreation centers have never, in the five years that I have been here, recycled anything! That shows you what letting it be voluntary allows people to do, nothing!

So the article says that no matter how Concientious/vigilant I am about recycling,I’ll probably be wasting My time because of others neglect?

Worse than that. It is because the recycled is often mixed with other things so the whole thing goes to the landfill. Didn't you read that 85% of recycle goes to the landfill? Plus recycle is so expensive some have closed down. You can continue to recycle if it makes you feel good but in reality almost all of it still goes to the landfill.