The Battle for Recycling Sites
Posted by Chad Norman June 5th, 2007 .I’ve been working on the Recycling Map lately, and the project has taken me out to some of the drop sites. These unstaffed bins, administered by Charleston County Solid Waste, often take a beating. People drop off unwanted items like tires, cinder blocks, wood, and everyday trash. This is not good.
When things get real bad, the Recycling Center will simply close the location. We’ve blogged about this, and modified our maps to reflect the changes. But the real issue here is about responsibility. The county provides a valuable service that is expensive and large scale, yet fragile because if the role we play. We need to follow the rules, or the whole program starts to fall apart.
I guess things have gotten really bad in Mount Pleasant. Check out these signs from the drop site at the DMV. The first one reads, “NOTICE - There will be no dumping on the ground of any debris. Charleston County Ordinance 1115. A fine of $675 will be imposed if you violate this ordinance. YOU ARE ON CAMERA. Charleston County Environmental Department. ” Cameras?…really? It’s a recycling drop site, not a bank.
Are these signs too much? I worry they might discourage would-be recyclers from putting items in the bins for fear they’ll be sent to Gitmo. The “No Dumping” sign references a separate law, while the “Under Investigation” sign hints that some really bad stuff went down. “Have Info?” and “Environmental Officers”. Sounds serious.
Debra down at the Recycling Center explained that the Mount Pleasant DMV site was being abused, but wouldn’t get into details…so I didn’t pry. She also said that when things get real bad, the site gets closed - this is what happened at the Bi-Lo on Coleman Blvd.
I guess the message here is that we need to encourage people to use the sites properly. Be mindful of the recyclable materials list, and maybe even clean up a site if you feel the need. We’ve talked about organizing an “Adopt-a-Drop Site” program made up of volunteers willing to keep their neighborhood site clean. Debra thought this was a great idea…maybe it’s time we got started.
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I read a lot on the web about recycling and it never ceases to surprise me how different recycling facilities are around the world.
I recently read about the lack of recycling facilities in New Orleans since Katrina happened and how all the recycling appears to be organised by voluntary organisations. I also recently visited a Greek Island and was very impressed with the use of solar power by almost everybody and the availability of organically grown produce but they received a poor rating in Europe for their ‘Green’ awareness due to their recycling.
And look at the situation in Naples where the rubbish lies in the streets and the last landfill is about to shut.
I live in Cardiff in Wales and I personally think that we have pretty good recycling facilities. I started recycling in the late 80’s ( I lived in England then)when facilities were not so good and what we have to day is impressive in comparison. However, much of what we do have is in place because of Central government setting targets which I think is the key to all green issues. What I do is a drop in the ocean and really doesn’t make a huge difference but No Impact Man discussed it recently when somebody asked him WHY BOTHER?. We bother because together we all make a difference , especially people like No Impact Man by raising personal and government awareness.
In Cardiff we have 2 main facilities which are manned where everything can be taken, recycling and rubbish. The advantage of taking everything is that the council doesn’t have to pick it up from your property which saves them time and money. The council also sells everything they can but I am sure they do not make a profit from selling the rubbish. They also accept furniture which they give to Track 2000 and this organisation refurbishes and resells the furniture to low-income families.
With all that we have within Cardiff you would think it would be a place of cleanliness and perfection, far from it. As you say it is all about personal responsibility and even with all the facilities that we have there is still fly-tipping and people who refuse to sort their rubbish for the kerb-side collection.
Brilliant blog-keep up the good work.