Recycling

So I work for the Dept of Environmental Quality. You would think that I would be more apt to recycle. Well it wasn't until recently that I thought the same thing. We don't have a curb recycle program in Bossier, so all materials to be recycled have to be brought to the recycle place. I didn't have extra bins to hold the recyclables. And whatever other excuse I could find is why I wasn't.

One big step was the cloth diapers. We started that a year ago with Jeanne, and haven't looked back since. After having to convince myself it was not as scary as I thought, I switched to cloth panty liners also. It's just as easy to through a liner in the hamper as it is the wastebasket. The ones I bought can be folded and snapped so it doesn't actually touch the clothes until they all go in the wash. I just began using them last week. Again, haven't looked back. These two changes are also about the money savings as well as the environmental benefits. Yes a box of 25 liners may only cost $2.00, but 3 cloth liners at $11.00 evens out after 5-6 months. Then you don't have to pay for any more. The same with cloth diapers. I figured Jeanne would use 7000 disposable diapers before being potty trained. That's almost $2000! I spent only $400 on cloth and they can be reused.

A week or so ago, we forgot to put the trash by the road. So the next week we had double the trash. We tried to stuff as much as we could in the house can because the outside was too full. As I watched us pile up plastic bottles and boxes on top, I realized that I should recycle. We drink 2 gallons of milk a week, and 1 64 oz bottle of juice. That's half of a trash bag already. Plus the can goods, newspapers, shredded mail, etc. It only makes sense to recycle these and not stuff them in the landfill. I have conducted inspections out there. I know what they look like. And most landfills only have a 10 year plan. Once it's 10 years, they just cover it up, and move over and start again. It's a never ending cycle of piling up and burying waste.

So I figured I could just keep bins for recycling, and bring it to the recycle place once or twice a week during weekly compliance runs. Makes me feel a little better about the landfills I inspect.