More Daddy D in the News!

My name keeps showing up deep in newspaper stories. Check out the last paragraph:

Local recyclers doing their part, but seek others' participation

By Mary Jimenezmaryjimenez@gannett.com

For the McCullough family, the nagging feeling of being wasteful is much stronger than the inconvenience of taking a drive to the Browning-Ferris Industries Regional Recycling Center on St. Vincent Avenue in Shreveport."If we're going to throw it in the trash anyway, why not put it in a box and take it to the recycling center once a week or once a month?" said Kevin McCullough, who along with his wife, Kate, has been recycling for about seven years. "We're going to have to do it for the future of our kids, bottom line."
Shreveport's landfill on Woolworth Road, which receives trash not just from Shreveport and Caddo Parish, but east Texas, Bossier City and Bossier Parish, received about 364,972 tons of trash in 2004, with only 5,900 tons of trash recycled in the same year, according to Shreveport Green, which coordinates the city's recycling program, and the Office of Public Works, which manages solid waste.Those are pretty good figures for a drop-off recycling program, says Mike Strong, director of Shreveport's Department of Operational Services.For those wondering why there isn't a curb-side program, it's because Shreveport's trash falls squarely on the shoulders of the city."We don't charge for garbage collection and never have," Strong said. "It was felt that the increase in cost of the curb-side program would not be outweighed by the space saved in the landfill."The Woolworth Landfill may be the biggest factor in the city's attitude toward recycling.According to Fred Williams, superintendent of solid waste for the Office of Public Works, the life span of the Woolworth Landfill takes it to 2025. "That's with added height modifications," Williams said. "But we're looking at two parcels of land which would take us well beyond 3000."Six hundred acres on the north side of the landfill and 400 acres on the south side of the landfill are being considered for the expansion.But others feel now is the time to think about long-term solutions.Bill Robertson served for eight years as the recycling coordinator for the city before Shreveport Green took over in 1999. Now the executive assistant to Public Service Commission Foster Campbell, Robertson is an observer like anyone else."We have a landfill, and we don't have to worry about garbage disposal and that's good," said Bill Robertson. "But what worries me is how long that landfill will last. It's not going to last forever, and I haven't seen any progress in that direction."One element to the recycling issue that has been a disappointment is the loss of the yard waste program, which failed in 2003 after 10 years."We lost a big chunk when we stopped doing green waste composting," said Donna Curtis, executive director of Shreveport Green. "Now all that green waste goes into the landfill."The Environmental Protection Agency estimates yard trimmings and food scraps that can be composted make up as much as 25 percent of the waste in U.S. households.But a 2002 study of Shreveport's volunteer composting program showed green waste only accounted for about 5,000 tons a year, or 1.5 percent, of the landfill. City officials predicted the additional green waste would not significantly shorten the useful life of the Woolworth Road Landfill. In addition, the program, which included a contract to have separate trucks pick up yard waste, was costing the city an estimated $700,000.Lack of participation was also seen as one of the downfalls."Certainly if people had used it more, it would have been more feasible," Strong said.Some would be open to other options.Shreveporter Darrell Rebouche would be all for a garbage fee, especially if it meant a recycling program that would encourage more people to participate."I just can't bring myself to throw away something that can be reused," said Rebouche, whose family of four has avidly recycled for about nine years. "I see the volume of trash my family can generate, and in my mind, I can extrapolate that to the amount of waste a city our size produces. We are filling landfills and cluttering the earth when we can reuse."

Sphere: Related Content