One Consumer's Frustration with Recycling

Note to reader:  If you are a conscientious recycler and you are satisfied with your trash service's efforts at picking up your recycling, you need not read any farther.  But if you too have thought about how your recycling program could be improved, please read on...

My family is dedicated to recycling.  We have a recycling container underneath our sink that I need to empty almost daily into our larger recycling containers (note that I say containers) in the garage.  Sometimes I think we are recycling too much.  But then I see how much recycling many of my neighbors put out, and I know that I'm not alone in giving a serious effort to reducing what goes into our landfills and helping our society by recycling.

Here's my frustration:  My trash service only picks up recycling every two weeks.  Furthermore, they provide us with one small, red recycling bin that I fill up after two days.  It is probably no larger than a 20-gallon container.  The result - I have three containers in my garage dedicated to recyclable materials that stack up over a two-week period.

On the other hand, my gigantic brown trash bin is rarely more than 1/4 filled when it is emptied by my trash provider every week.

I thought it was interesting that I could basically switch the two containers and my problem would be solved.  My recycling would fit into the large brown trash bin, and my trash would usually fit into the smaller red recycling container.  However, I think the garage would get a little odiferous if my garbage was left uncovered.  Hmmm.... what to do?

Last year the trash service hired a consulting firm that called and interview customers.  The goal was to improve service.  I spent 20 minutes on the phone explaining my recycling concerns with the interviewer on the other end.  He seemed very interested in what I was saying.  I was actually excited.  I thought maybe they'd take my ideas and put them to use.  I suggested a larger bin for recycling.  I also suggested picking up the recycling every week.  I even told him it would be OK with me if we switched the bins like I explained above.  So far, however, no changes. 

I wonder how much money my trash service spent on this research and if they put any of their clients' ideas, like mine, to use?  My trash bill, interestingly enough, has gone up $30 over the past three years, but the service has not changed at all.  Hmmm....

Meanwhile, I will continue to recycle and stack up these materials in the garage, counting down the days until the recycling truck makes its way around the neighborhood. 

Despite my best efforts to recycle and play a part in keeping our environment clean, it still shocks me when I see nearby residents who do no recycling at all.  But that's a topic for another time.

Is 8 a.m. Too Early to Mow Your Lawn on a Sunday?

So I get back from my morning run today just before 8 a.m.  I take a quick shower, check the chemical levels in the pool, grab a cup of coffee and the Sunday paper, and head out to my back deck to relax in the sun and read the news.  I like to set my iPhone nearby and play some easy-listening music, usually Shawn Mullins, while I read and scan the advertisements. 

As I unwrap the paper to Mullins's "Homemade Wine", my neighbor across the street fires up his John Deere lawn tractor and begins mowing his yard.  It's 8 a.m.!  Surely there are still other neighbors who are sleeping or trying to enjoy a quiet morning like I am...

The noise of his mower drowns out the Mullins music and distracts me from the sports page.  I can no longer hear the breeze through the wind chimes, and the songs of the whipporwill and killdeer and robins are lost as well.

The irony of the whole situation is that his noise ruined my quiet Sunday morning, but he worked in near-silence as he toured around his yard with his noise-killing headphones on his ears, immune to the cacophony he created for everyone else. 

What's A Teacher to Do on the First Official Day of Summer Vacation??

What should I do first....???



Go for a run? Nope. It's raining too hard.

Read the paper? Oops! We only get Sunday delivery.

Check my emails? Done.

Search for that first great summer novel to read? Not a bad idea...

Walk the dog? Oh, yeah... it's raining.

Mow? Duh! Rain!

Begin planning for next year? Yeah, right!



Start a list of summer Must-Dos? What should I do first?



I think I'll take a nap and think this over some more...