05-05-2014, 09:36 AM
Why to recycle?
Main reason is that we are almost out of places to get rid of our plastic bags of garbage (& recyclables). The Hilo dump is already on borrowed time...& I have not seen anything that would indicate that we could get another EPA approved (and safe) 'sanitary' waste dump' here without a very large influx of cash (if not from one source like the GTT, then from other taxes or user fees)...
With or without a new on-island site for garbage, the cost for garbage will have to go up one way or another (without a new site, our county will join many others in paying to 'export' their waste)... I guess some are more in favor of increased taxes, real 'user' fees, or just dumping their waste next door (which was the main way prior to the free dumping options that the transfer stations/dumps allow...
The last county we lived in had to close their last dump while we were there, garbage handling costs tripled the first year...& by the time we left, you were credited for recyclables, but had to pay dearly for each bag or can of non-green waste...and the costs were volume/wt based...if you tried to sneak in non-recyclables you were fined & the fine was added to your property tax... one neighbor had over $1K in fines in one year.... it was a tough learning curve! BTW it was $3 per normal waste bag, yard trimmings had to be in a $1.50 bag/and ANY non-plant trimmings would get you a $50 fine first time, $100 second... So if you would like to live with the export of our waste, get used to that amount of "big brother" 'cause that is the other option!
If you do not recycle every last scrap that can be (not just the HI5 recyclables) then you are contributing to speeding up the closing of our dumps & the much higher cost to deal with our waste.... or are you going to advocated tossing it on your neighbors yard?
Main reason is that we are almost out of places to get rid of our plastic bags of garbage (& recyclables). The Hilo dump is already on borrowed time...& I have not seen anything that would indicate that we could get another EPA approved (and safe) 'sanitary' waste dump' here without a very large influx of cash (if not from one source like the GTT, then from other taxes or user fees)...
With or without a new on-island site for garbage, the cost for garbage will have to go up one way or another (without a new site, our county will join many others in paying to 'export' their waste)... I guess some are more in favor of increased taxes, real 'user' fees, or just dumping their waste next door (which was the main way prior to the free dumping options that the transfer stations/dumps allow...
The last county we lived in had to close their last dump while we were there, garbage handling costs tripled the first year...& by the time we left, you were credited for recyclables, but had to pay dearly for each bag or can of non-green waste...and the costs were volume/wt based...if you tried to sneak in non-recyclables you were fined & the fine was added to your property tax... one neighbor had over $1K in fines in one year.... it was a tough learning curve! BTW it was $3 per normal waste bag, yard trimmings had to be in a $1.50 bag/and ANY non-plant trimmings would get you a $50 fine first time, $100 second... So if you would like to live with the export of our waste, get used to that amount of "big brother" 'cause that is the other option!
If you do not recycle every last scrap that can be (not just the HI5 recyclables) then you are contributing to speeding up the closing of our dumps & the much higher cost to deal with our waste.... or are you going to advocated tossing it on your neighbors yard?