Citizen Editorial Praises GLEE Recycling Efforts
Sticker is great idea, but we're not there yet
Sometimes a small change can make a big difference -- even something as seemingly insignificant as a sticker; in this case, a recycling sticker available at Key West city offices on Flagler Avenue, as well as at Strunk Ace Hardware on Eaton Street. This little green and white sticker has the amazing ability to transform just about any type of container into a recycling container.
The limited size and availability of "official" recycling containers has long been an irritant to enthusiastic recyclers, and at times an impediment to those who run out of room in their city-issued bin. We hope the new stickers will make both problems things of the past.
The stickers are the brainchild of a partnership between the city, Waste Management and the recycling warriors at GLEE (Green Living and Energy Education). All three are to be commended for this (pardon the cliché) out-of-the-box thinking.
The ease of recycling has come a long way in Key West. Recycled items do not need to be sorted for pickup and the types of plastic now accepted cover pretty much everything except plastic bags -- even they can be recycled if returned to the supermarkets.
Recycling isn't simply the right thing to do from an environmental standpoint -- it makes economic sense, as well.
Everything discarded in the Florida Keys is removed from our island chain the same way it gets in, by truck. The difference being that the rate we pay for a ton of trash is higher than the rate paid to haul recyclables.
Residential recycling was made mandatory by the Key West City Commission in 2009, but unfortunately there was no enforcement provision. Why, then, is the amount of trash recycled in the city still below 10 percent? Must we continually pass by the faded recycling thermometer in Bayview Park, which seems to mock the city's stated commitment to recycle?
One relatively easy way to increase recycling numbers and give the anemic thermometer a boost would be to begin recycling yard waste, as does the village of Islamorada. What could be a more natural step than recycling plant matter?
Any serious discussion about recycling also is hollow without addressing the elephant in the room -- which is, of course, commercial recycling.
The city of Key West will never make a significant improvement in its recycling rate until it take a hard-line approach with businesses and how they handle the tons of bottles, cans and other recyclables they now throw away every single day.
There are a handful of businesses out there that have stepped up and instituted real recycling programs. We commend these businesses, and hold them as role model for the others.
For the others who don't, shame on you. Why should everyone else on the island do what's right, but not you?
We hope a Solid Waste Master Plan being developed by Kessler Consulting will give the city the hard numbers it needs to adopt substantive ordinances and policies to put the city on track as role model rather than an embarrassment when it comes to recycling.
For more information on recycling, visit http://www.keysglee.com/