Letter To The Editor: Recycling
Author: Joe Gill
Recycling
I read an article about recycling this morning and thought of the solid waste and the predicament the county is in right now. I grew up in a town where recycling was mandatory back in the 90s. It clearly is unsustainable in our location but I also do believe some of it falls back on the community to do the right thing.
This article makes it very clear that the perception of the public is wrong and that our public needs to be educated on the truth about solid waste and recycling.
I was always under the impression that recycling was the way of the world and what happens when I put my recyclables in the bin is the right thing to do. Clearly, not all recycling gets a second life as consumer goods.
One thing I think the county needs to look at is what consumer goods can be composted locally and what can realistically be recycled. Then the rest of the cost would need to be shifted to paying for shipping the trash to the best-suited facility to handle it from an environmental perspective. This is something much easier said than done.
I had a vision for my mushroom operation to develop a strain of oyster mushrooms that would consume plastics. There are strains out there that do it. They are in practice in certain places out in Washington but most of the work is in the experimental phases. I know Paul Staments with Fungi Perfecti has been researching this and has had success with the remediation of oil spills and some plastics in landfills. I don't think I'll get to that point but it's something to think about.
Visit this site to read the article on recycling:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/decades-public-messages-recycling-us-140651554.html
Joe Gill
Townsend K12 School District
Technology Assistant
Classified Union Vice President
eSports Head Coach
