Why doesn't it pay to recycle in Cabarrus County?

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1769659900634709753.post-47877003158145942972008-02-09T18:27:00.000-05:002008-02-09T19:36:59.649-05:00Why doesn't it pay to recycle in Cabarrus County?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q310/LiberalNC/RecycleBin.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px;" src="http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q310/LiberalNC/RecycleBin.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>There was a lot to do recently about a pretty big hike in the fee for garbage pick up as Allied Waste Services added curbside recycling services for County residents that live outside the Concord and Kannapolis city limits. Allied Waste added the recycling service for the unincorporated portions of the county at the specific request of the Cabarrus County Commission. I'm one of the customers who now has to pay 43% more for my garbage pick up. While I love finally being able to recycle, I think something is not quite right. My family of 3 members puts out a full recycling bin once a week, next to a big 95 gallon rolling cart with exactly one garbage bag in it. One of my neighbors down the street, who lives alone, doesn't recycle at all and puts her big rolling cart overflowing with garbage bags (usually the lid can't be closed) on the same curb. The problem I have is that we both pay the exact same amount for our garbage collection. Apparently nobody on the County Commission has ever heard of the internationally well known and accepted "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polluter_pays_principle">the polluter pays principle</a>". Besides the "good feeling" you get from doing something positive for the environment, why should anyone recycle when it takes a lot more time and effort and your neighbor, who just pollutes away, only has to pay the same amount you do? In a letter I received from Allied Waste Services, which was sent out after they received numerous complaints from customers about the raise in fees, they say that one of the main reasons they added the curbside recycling was that <blockquote>"Cabarrus County wishes to encourage more residents to recycle in order to better protect our environment".</blockquote>Can someone explain to me how you are encouraging residents to recycle by having them pay more and ask them to invest more time and effort at the same time? Basically you're asking people to work harder for something they have to pay more for. What's even worse is that people who say they can't afford to pay 43% more for their garbage pick up will now start dumping their trash everywhere or just burning it in their yard. Why not tell people they won't have to pay more if they participate in the recycling program? Let the people, who are too lazy to get of their butts and just want to dump all their trash in one pile, pick up the slack for everyone who does care about the environment. Also, I don't see anyone talking about the fact that all that recycled material is worth money. I'm sure companies pay Allied Waste Services for their cans, paper and glass, because all that stuff is raw material for an industrial process. So I'm pretty sure that Allied Waste is getting extra money from 2 ends now. We pay more for their services while at the same time providing them with more material they can sell to other companies. Why not include the proceeds from the collected recyclable material in to consideration when Allied Waste Services rates are determined? <a href="http://www.wutc.wa.gov/webimage.nsf/c11db60ca1a51e6888256efc00506bb8/4fa7db7b09f6ca6c882568c70062f876!OpenDocument">One good example for this</a> I found in the State of Washington where they require this. Once again logic seems missing in Cabarrus County government.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1769659900634709753-4787700315814594297?l=www.lefton49.com'/></div>Thierry Wernaershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18425107349559674853noreply@blogger.com12