Recycle More in 2015 by Mickey Fraser, President

Fun Facts for the New Year And Why YOUR Recycling Matters

We all recognize the recycle symbol. It's been around for 45 years. Sometimes it seems the people regard it as one more relic of passé nostalgia: nice but irrelevant. I’ve often heard people complaining that their “little bit “ of recycling doesn’t matter so why bother? "Look at all the waste by big companies and the government. Why would my recycling make any difference when most businesses don’t even bother to try?" Perhaps the best answer to that argument is that a journey of a thousand miles must begin with the first step. Your own first step begins with an understanding of the consequences of ignoring the necessity and a willingness to change your habits. Look around and you'll realize that more and more people, businesses, governments, and organizations are recycling and expanding programs to conserve resources.  If you have an idea for reusing-before-recycling plant pots or reusing other unrecyclable items that can inspire our readers to Reuse-the-Refuse, send it to switzerlandgc@gmail.com - we'll feature it on our home page!

Our county taxes provide recycling services, facilities, and events. In fact, on January 10, from 8AM-noon you'll be able to drop off hazardous waste at the Bartram Trail High School. The county solid waste collection service is able to recycle nearly all of it. See this Neighborhood Notice form more information. Gather the items you want to dispose of when you are in the garage putting your Christmas decorations away. You'll be ready to pack your car and drop them off on the 10th. The county generally does a hazardous waste collection event on the second Saturday of January.   So you can make this an annual habit!  Contact the Solid Waste Department if you have questions.  We'll have more information on county and other convenient recycling resources at the end of this article.


The Problems and Opportunities

For those of you who remain unconvinced that recycling matters, consider these facts about items we should be recycling:

• An estimated 80,000,000 Hershey’s kisses are wrapped each day, using enough aluminum foil to cover 50 acres of space - almost 40 football fields. Aluminum foil, like aluminum cans, is 100% recyclable. In fact, aluminum can be recycled indefinitely. In the future, we may be mining our old landfills for just such resources.

• Just like aluminum motor oil never wears out, it just gets dirty. Oil can be recycled, refined, and used over and over again.

• Mining and transporting raw materials for glass produces about 385 pounds of waste for every ton of glass. If recycled glass is substituted for half the raw materials the waste is cut by more than 80%, meaning over 300 pounds of waste is NOT produced.  Recycling plastic saves twice as much energy as burning it in an incinerator. And drinking water from the tap and washing the glass you drank it from saves you the need to recycle at all. (Not to mention the fact that tap water is monitored for compliance with safe drinking water laws. Bottled water is not subject to any regulation.)

• Plastic that ends up in waterways is often mistaken for food by aquatic animals. Fish and turtles can literally starve because their digestive systems are filled with plastic. And fishing line mutilates and strangles enormous numbers of animals. US Fishing gear alone inadvertently kills over 4,500 sea turtles and half a million birds annually. Worldwide, 45% of cetaceans (whales, dolphins, etc) deaths are due to entanglement. That affects our fisheries and our enjoyment of these animals.

• On average it costs $30 per ton to recycle trash, $50 to send it to the landfill and $65-$75 to incinerate it. Which amount would you rather pay for solid waste services?

 Garbage In, Garbage Out - for a LONG Time


Garbage can take a depressingly long time to degrade. The Guana Tolomato Matanzas Research Estuary (GTMNERR) has a set of "slides" on their Facebook album showing the decomposition rates of common items (click the images to advance the slides).  This resource is from their EcoMentality and coastal cleanup events last September.  Too many people have been treating our waterways like a big trashcan. 

As for landfills, we ran out of landfill space many years ago, and many of our landfills are old and leaking toxic waste and hazardous chemicals into our own water sources. Our modern landfills have better design features to prevent leakage, but those very same features thwart the natural decomposition process that would make more room in the landfill available for future deposits. We have reached a saturation/tipping point where we are using our natural resources up faster than they can renew themselves, and harming the earth and ourselves in the process.


2015 Resolution: Make Your Purchases Count!

Businesses are tapping into the market for recyclable products and for items made from recycled materials. Reward those businesses by buying recyclable/recycled items! Our garden club made a commitment last year to use recycled paper for our promotional materials and to patronize printing services that offer recycled items. Our luncheon hostesses are bringing more and more and more recyclable utensils, cups, and dishes to our meetings, and putting them in recycle bins. Some of us bring our own plates, etc. and wash them at home! More of us are shopping using fabric-based bags rather than the store's paper or plastic bags, both of which use non-renewable or slowly renewable resources, and produce hazardous byproducts. Just keep a few fabric bags in your car. Our club sells them for a very low price, by the way...


2015 Resolution: Make Your Actions Count!

Recycling is easier than ever now with many places available to take our waste, and even pay us (or at least reward us) for it. There are now markets for almost every type of material our durable goods are made of, there is a cash value in recycling paper, wood, plastic, glass, steel, copper and almost all other metals. It is always better to buy a product made from recycled materials than to use raw earth materials for a new one. Recycle, reuse, and consume smartly.  You can stem the flow of over-consumption that steals the natural resources we have left minute by minute.

Convenient Recycling Options

 All of our electronic waste can and should be recycled. Locally, we St. Johns County residents have many businesses, including office supply and computer services stores that take electronic items and supplies (such as ink cartridges) and even give you store credit or rewards. Charitable organizations can provide tax deductions. Use GoogleSearch, GoodSearch, or a search engine of your choice, or your local yellow pages to find recycling options. Websites like RecyclingRevolution and Earth911 are good resources.

Our county has weekly non-hazardous recyclable pickup is available for property owners. The list of acceptable items is at the county website.  "White goods" pickup scheduling is available and free. Don't forget the county hazardous waste local collection events, such as the one mentioned in the beginning of this article. There are drop off sites for items like used cooking oil and hazardous waste.

Remember, if you have an idea for reusing-before-recycling plant pots or reusing unrecyclable items that can inspire our readers to Reuse-the-Refuse, send it to switzerlandgc@gmail.com - we'll feature it on our home page!


Now for that Recycling Symbol

The designer of the world-famous recycling symbol was a WWII baby boomer named Gary Anderson. To help finance his education after graduating from USC in 1970, he entered a design contest sponsored by the Container Corporation of America (the company's Fernandina Beach facility is currently owned by the RockTenn Corporation). The company was making a move into producing recycled paper products and wanted a symbol that would be recognizable to participants in the first Earth Day celebration.

The recycling symbol has always been in the public domain. It has been used to encircle the codes manufacturers assign to identify the material comprising a product (paper, plastics, batteries, glass, etc); and it is these codes that can help you determine the type of recycling service available for that product. Remember to look for them when you shop!

Northwest St. Johns county residents, remember to mark your calendars for the hazardous waste drop-off event on January 10.  Happy New Year and wishing you a joyous time making a difference by finding (and sharing) new recycling habits.