Why am I so excited about this? For a long time, recycling
has been something I have cared about (to varying degrees). When I was a kid, I
used to walk along river banks and through neighborhoods to pick up aluminum
cans. Part of this was good for the environment, and part of it was good for me
to have some money for baseball cards and things like that. When I was a freshman
at WVU, I worked hard to get a recycling program initiated in the residence
halls. It had some fits and starts during my undergraduate era, but now, I’m
excited to say that the university has an incredible focus on recycling and
sustainability efforts.
Separately, in 2006, I found out my mom had breast cancer.
She went to be with Jesus about a year later. Incidence of cancer has risen drastically over the
last 20-30 years. My wife’s mom was diagnosed with breast cancer last year
while we were on our honeymoon. Three of my dad’s living siblings have had
cancer. My sister has had cancer. I’m sure you can think of folks who are close to
you as well. In my reading, one of the leading contributors to cancer is
believed to be environmental issues. When I made that discovery, I began to
look really closely at my own energy consumption habits as well as the amount
of waste I was producing.
At the time I lived with roommates, and we had gatherings at
our house on a regular basis. We produced a lot of materials that went in the garbage.
We started recycling back then. It would take 2-3 weeks to fill our garbage can
after we started recycling. It occurred to me as I made trips to the local
recycling center that my roommates and I could reduce the speed at which
landfills would fill by choosing to recycle. From everything I’ve read, it
takes significantly energy to recycle some materials than it does to produce
new materials. Some materials take a really long time to begin to break down,
and those same materials can be recycled fairly easily.
Now, my wife and I continue to recycle. As a result, we fill
an eight-gallon trash bag with non-recyclable material about one or two times
per month. Our recyclables require us to
fill our car once per month to take it to the recycling center.
All that being said, the biggest reason I’m excited about
this recycling program is that it appears to be really easy. During the week of
December 10, 2012, residents will receive a 65 gallon recycling cart. Service
will start the week of January 7, 2013.
The program will recycle just about everything. Aluminum
cans, all colors and shapes of glass, corrugated cardboard, newsprint and
inserts, steel cans, plastics #1-6, paperback books/phone books, magazines,
catalogs, junk mail, office paper, pizza box lids, and even dry food and tissue
boxes.
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