West Lane Place Civic Association

RECYCLING REGRETS & ECONOMICS

Oct 27, 2005

Page Williams, WLPCA recycling chair

I regret that some faithful recyclers
failed to get the (poorly publicized)
word that neighborhood recycling was
suspended, following Rita, on September
27 and October 11. The crews were
needed to pick up storm debris on the east
side ofHouston.

On both of those days, I took my
recycling to the 24/7 well-lit depository
at 5004 Dincans (opposite Goode
Company Seafood on Westpark). I
also filled my car with some of
your newspapers THAT WERE NEATLY
PLACED IN PAPER GROCERY
BAGS CURBSIDE, so you would not
have to haul those heavy items
back to your garages. In the process,
I discovered that some of you
need to study the green waste
disposal guide that I prepare
annually, and which was in your
last WLPCA newsletter! Only by
following City guidelines can we
make recycling profitable for the
city, and save our landfills.

Items that do NOT belong in your
recycling bins:

PLASTIC BAGS: including newspaper
wrappers - these can be saved
and dropped off at any Randall's.

ENVELOPES WITH CLEAR PLASTIC WINDOWS:
these "contaminate" paper processing
and should be put in your trash cans

GLASS: you can save your wine bottles
and jelly jars and drop them off at
5004 Dincans or the City depository
at 5900 Westpark - take turns
"carpooling" with some neighbors!

PLAIN CARDBOARD: only corrugated
is picked up curbside - plain can be taken
to Dincans, however.
PLASTIC RECEPTACLES THAT ARE NOT LABELED
#1 or #2, OR DO NOT HAVE NECKS
SMALLER THAN THE BASE, OR ARE CAPPED.

Your recycling bins WILL break if you
fill them completely with heavy
newspapers and magazines. If you have
more than two grocery bags full, just
set them curbside, next to your bin
(or even without your bin) and they
can easily be collected without
breaking your bin.

Before Hurricane Rita arrived, I
bicycled around the neighborhood and
picked up almost 150 "River Oaks
Examiners" and "Village News" issues,
wrapped in plastic, left lying in
yards. If we had received the usual
torrential rains associated with
hurricanes, these could have washed
into the storm drains, clogging
the rainwater runoff and adding
to the potential of flooding our
homes. The plastic bags could
have wound up in the Gulf of Mexico,
where they could be lethal to marine
life mistaking them for food. Please
pick these up out of your yards -
it could save your home and save
a sea turtle! If you don't want
them, phone the newspaper office
and ask that they stop littering
your yard - persistence
pays, as it finally worked for me.

Remember, that for every minute the
recycling crew spends sorting out
incorrect items, it costs us taxpayers
money. For every overloaded broken
bin that must be replaced, it costs us
taxpayers money. So, please, take a
few minutes to study the green flyer
and make recycling pay. And thank you
for recycling!