What I learned from my day out with the Garbage Man

By Albert B. Kelly The nuts and bolts of municipal government are not really very attractive and the subject matter not all that inspiring to think on. But every now then, if you do it long enough, you get a little bit of good news, a small reminder that the dry language of policy plays out on the street in the "daily-ness" of the community. That was the case when it came to trash pick-up and recycling. The issue was the tipping fees, meaning the amount we paid for each load of trash and what we might receive in credits if we lowered the number of trash loads and increased the amount we recycled. We certainly had enough in the way of reports and studies but like many things in life, sometimes you have to go and see for yourself. That's what I hoped to do a couple of years ago as the trash and recycling crews were kind enough to let me do a "ride-along" to see for myself how we did curbside pick-up. It was tough a few hours, but it was informative. In addition to a new-found respect for the crews working the streets, I came away with the sense that we could do some things better, like enforcement and education, but I was also convinced that we could make things easier for residents on the recycling front. With the close-up view, it was clear that far too much recyclable materials were being mixed in with regular household trash. Part of this had to do with the amount of recyclables generated and the small containers. That's where single-stream recycling (and the 96 gallon red containers) comes in and we've finally got some numbers to show for it since the program began in April of last year. If you recall, the goal of single-stream recycling was to provide one large (96 gallon) container into which residents could deposit glass, plastic, and paper without the need to separate these items into different "streams" or containers. The idea was to make it easier and by so doing, increase the amount we recycle as a community while lowering the amount we throw away as trash. This would save residents money because instead of paying ever increasing amounts on what we throw away as garbage, we would get credit on what we take to the curb as recyclables. A Senate commitment to widespread recycling in N.J. | Opinion A Senate commitment to widespread recycling in N.J. | Opinion By Thomas H. Kean Jr. and Christopher "Kip" Bateman Every year in New Jersey, tens of millions of tons of solid waste are incinerated or deposited into landfills, posing a serious threat to the environment, public health and safety. New Jersey's growing landfills release toxic chemicals into the soil and groundwater. Incinerated waste emits dangerous toxins and air pollutants. In... Not for nothin, but in 2014 Bridgetonians disposed of 6,245 tons of garbage. In 2015, that number dropped to 5,913 tons of trash. This means that we paid approximately $371,832 in disposal fees in 2014 compared with $352,251 in 2015. While single-stream recycling started in April last year, we still managed to save approximately $19,580 in disposal fees last year. Looking at things from the recycling side, it breaks down as follows: In 2014 we had 296 loads or 1,164 tons of recyclables. In 2015, total loads increased to 341- which translated into 1,733 tons of recyclable material. That's a good start — an increase of nearly 570 single-stream recyclable tons. On the front end, this means lowering the cost of solid waste removal for residents — no small thing, but it also means we're heading in the right direction in terms of the environment. The issues of our environment, global warming, and sustainability are hard ones. No single gesture by an individual or a community can fix all the problems; it's the combined efforts of untold numbers of households doing the little things on a daily and weekly basis that, when added together, make the difference. It's an act of faith and failing that, it comes down to enforcement. It's hard because lacking some obvious pollution, we don't see any immediate "cause and effect" impact on our environment so we don't see the consequences of our small decisions to recycle or not. Part of a larger fabric, we see our decisions only in abstract numbers, levels, and tons. All of that leads to this: We're making progress as a community. Single-stream recycling has made the curbside process easier and because we're recycling more, we're part of extending the life of plastic, glass, and paper and over time this means using fewer natural resources. There's more to do of course, and the stakes are only getting higher. That's why I want to encourage all of our residents to continue to be mindful about what they throw away and what goes into the single-stream recycling containers — to be deliberate about it...about making a difference. Albert B. Kelly is mayor of Bridgeton. Contact him by phone at 856-455-3230 Ext. 200. Send a letter to the editor of South Jersey Times at sjletters@njadvancemedia.com