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Editorial
Recycling
About one year ago, Rappahannock residents joined with the rest of the country in celebrating the 20th anniversary of the first Earth Day, and like the rest of the country, resolved that things would be different.
The environmental problems facing this county are smaller-scale than most other places, but that does not make them less real or any less urgent. It only makes their solutions a little more practicable.
Perhaps the most obvious ecological disaster in the county is the brainless habit of throwing trash from vehicles or the even more puzzling use of illegal dumps. We’d like to think of those as vestiges of the past, but unfortunately that’s only partly true.
Although it’s very infrequently used, the county code provides for up to a $1,000 fine and up to 12 months in jail for throwing your trash anywhere except in a trash receptacle or in the Amissville landfill. If you see someone throwing garbage from their vehicle, report the license number to the Sheriff’s Office or the State Police. There’s really no excuse for that kind of senseless abuse of our natural resourses.
Recyclers got some good news from the county last month, when after the Fredericksburg-based contractor pulled out of servicing the landfill’s recycling bins the county hired a new firm, out of Charlottesville, which expanded the types of materials it will recycle to include milk-jug plastics and two-liter soda bottles. Tin cans are also now being taken. The down side of that is that the new company will be charging the county a certain amount every month, but that expense will be made up for by lengthening the life of the county landfill.
Tin and aluminum cans may be mixed together; magnets separate them at the point of remanufacture. Tin and plastic should be rinsed, but labels need not be removed.
The town of Washington has established a progressive recycling system that seems to have achieved a high degree of participation already. On the third Saturdays of every month (April 20 this month), crews pick up separated materials at curbside, and the response has been great.
A survey recently undertaken by the town indicated that 30 of 31 respondents were taking advantage of the curbside pickup. In a town of only 188 residents, that’s more than respectable. You could add the Rappahannock News to the list, although we take our recyclables directly to the landfill because of the volume of newspapers we go through.
Earth Day brought the myriad of environmental issues to the forefront of many people’s minds. It’s good to see how that one day has effected real change in people’s living habits.
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