Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Editorial: Make it easy to recycle
Localities with curbside collection or ample drop-off centers have the greatest success recycling.
From the RoundTable blog
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If municipal leaders want people to recycle, they need to make it easy.
Places that do this well -- like Roanoke, Vinton, Salem and Bedford County -- see compliance rates far above state and national averages.
Places that make it difficult -- like Roanoke County and Botetourt County -- should be embarrassed, but not surprised, that they stumble.
A story in Sunday's paper that looked at recycling rates confirmed the adage: The easier you make it for people to do the right thing, the more likely they will comply.
Roanoke and Vinton couldn't make it any easier if they sent their mayors out to sort through the trash bins. Both collect recyclables curbside with great success.
Compact boundaries and neighborhoods give the city and town an advantage over more rural, mountainous areas -- an excuse Roanoke County uses to justify its dismal rate.
What then to say of Bedford County, which boasts high compliance? Bedford doesn't collect either trash or recyclables curbside, but provides an ample number of drop-off centers to make it convenient for residents.
From this it can be assumed that if residents are conditioned to handle plastic, cans and paper the same as they do diapers, coffee grounds and kitty litter, the process is easy and doable.
What then to say of Salem, with the highest compliance rate in the area? It collects trash curbside, but not recyclables. The city does host enough drop-off centers, three in 14 square miles, to make it convenient.
Roanoke County does convenience miserably with just six drop-off locations and one transfer station in 250 square miles. The county claims on its Web site that it plans to add more, but not when or where. Nor does it widely promote information about even its meager program.
Another impediment for some localities has been finding a place that will accept recyclables. A new facility opening soon in Roanoke may solve that problem.
Recycling takes effort and commitment, neither of which is apparent from one of the region's most populated localities. Surely, Roanoke County can do better than make excuses.
