Eco-friendly, my ass!

D Sr took the day off today. We planned all kinds of family fun and tried to intersperse a few chores in there. One of the chores was to visit the Eco-Station.

The Eco-Station in our fair city is where one brings things like used computers, electronics, batteries, paint, etc. to be recycled. It also has a ton of huge bins for more “regular” recyclables like plastics, paper, cardboard, etc. Some items that you bring you are charged a fee for and some you are not.

We had quite a bit to recycle - lots of stuff from D Sr’s computer and electronics graveyard and a ton of books that I convinced my grandma to give to me to recycle rather than go straight into the garbage at her place. These books had no intrinsic value whatsoever (you know things like the 25 volume Time-Life encyclopedia set on lawnmowers published in 1964).

When we got to the Eco-Station they took our computers and electronics for free, but actually refused the books unless we ripped all the covers off the 100+ plus hardcover books that were in our van. D Jr was whining and sniveling after a long day, so we were irritated and incredulous. Here we are with over 100 books and they refuse to recycle them. When we told the oh-so useful help that there was no way in hell that we were ripping the covers off all those books she told us “they just have to go in the garbage then.”

What the $%^%$?!

How is this “eco” anything? This is the acceptable environmentally sound response that my tax dollars (yes, my tax dollars – I’ve been a homeowner for 6 years) pay for? The staff at the “Eco-Station” are telling us to dump all this recyclable material directly in the garbage?! Moreover, when they receive stuff like this unsolicited they toss it in the garbage themselves.

In my opinion this is where David Suzuki and all his cohorts completely lose Joe Q. Public.

First, if I want to be a good citizen and recycle dangerous goods like batteries, electronics etc. I have to DRIVE out of my way, on my own time, and possibly pay a fee for the privilege of doing so. I can completely see why people just toss stuff in the trash. My aging grandparents, for example, have never recycled anything in their lives other than of the “reuse” variety. Is it a shock?

Second, for items that are entirely harmless, yet recyclable (books for Christ’s sake!) if I don’t toil over them, they will just get thrown it. Utterly ridiculous.

If it’s not easy, most people are not going to do it. Am I wrong?

If recycling, buying green, and employing green practices in the home remain expensive and inconvenient then people are just not going to buy in.

I care and I want to buy in.

But for some reason, I have over 100 books in the back of our minivan that I’m pretty sure are ending up in a landfill somewhere.