Local landfill use is down 10% thanks to the economy, recycling efforts, reduced packaging, and so on. That's (mostly) good news for the landfill, although it does mean less revenue.
The Bluff Road Landfill supposedly has about 25 years worth of life remaining. That sounds like a long time, but is it really? Lincoln probably doesn't have a specific plan at this point for what we're going to do when the landfill fills up. Do we have a general idea of what we're going to do? How far in advance does a community need to think about its next landfill?
Considering how poorly Lincoln has planned ahead for some of its biggest needs -- south and east beltways, anyone? -- I get nervous thinking about this sort of long-range planning effort. At the very least I hope we sock away a few bucks to help deal with startup costs when the time comes.
Comments
See what your friends and neighbors have to say about this.
My family started recycling this year, and I am amazed how much less volume we send away in the trash cans. We used to do a twice-weekly garbage cycle (which was a little overkill since we rarely filled a whole can), but now we’ve dropped to once a week, and the can is usually no more than half full. Once the last child is done with diapers that will improve even more.
By volume, I think the recycle can takes away nearly as much as the trash can does. And that doesn’t include glass and some of the plastics (we chose not to spend any more money with the LJS folks and went with RecycleLink, which I highly recommend - they’ve done a great job and although I don’t love having another can, it is easier for us than the small LJS containers, it’s cheaper, and we earn points to use for discounts or free stuff).
We were the first on our street with the gray RecycleLink can - now there are three. There are more on the streets around me, and seemingly more every week as I drive around. I think those are encouraging signs.
We started recycling at my 5 year old daughter’s request last year, and I mirror Fletch’s findings in every way. I am pretty sure our garbage to recycling volume is 1:1.
We use Star City Recycling. They cost a bit more ($11/month), but they recycle just about anything I can think of, and I like supporting a local entrepreneur.
http://web.me.com/garkeeviczoom/Star_City_Recycling/Welcome.html
Share your thoughts with the community.
Commenting is no longer permitted on this post.