April is here and March Madness is coming to an end. Unfortunately, there is a different kind of madness continuing in Owensboro. Each year 43,000 tons of trash are collected by the Owensboro Sanitation Department. Each year the city’s recycling drop-off site and GO Recycling’s curbside recycling service collect around 1,000 tons combined. Only 2.4% of our waste being recycled is truly madness, considering that nearly 80% of the waste is actually recyclable. That means that 33,368 tons of good, recyclable material is going into our landfill every year at the current rate.
Could you imagine the city collecting a little under 10,000 tons of waste per year? Currently the city is budgeting roughly $2.4 million dollars for sanitation tipping (dumping) fees, fuel and vehicle maintenance alone. This comes from a $6.24 million dollar Sanitation Department budget! Recycling the full 80% of materials would immediately reduce the tipping fees paid by the city by almost $1.3 million. Remember, that is 1.3 million tax dollars going right in the dump!
Together, recycling curbside, we can reach the goal of diverting that 80% of our waste. Curbside recycling offers so many more opportunities than a government sponsored drop-off site. Drop-off sites do not accept junk mail, office paper, batteries, electronics or glass. Curbside does! Drop-off sites do not provide you with a bin and sort the material for you. Curbside does! Drop-off sites do not come to your house for easy convenient recycling. Curbside does!
As Earth Day approaches this April, challenge yourself to start recycling curbside with Owensboro’s clear, winning choice: GO Recycling!