Righteous
By Carol Brown
@blitzfrick (2890)
United States
May 23, 2017 7:37pm CST
May 23, 2017
Styrofoam. It's a petroleum product that, like plastics, will never ever return to the original organic form from which it sprang. The best we can do is stop producing it (I don't that'll happen any time soon). The next best thing is to recycle it.
I had some block styrofoam from the original packaging of my old eMac that I'd been carting around with me for years. I was ready to shed that burden, but where? It's nearly impossible to find a recycler that will take it. At least that's been my experience. Until today.
Our trailer park participates in curbside recycling via a company called Waste Management. Today was recycle pickup day and I got up early (!) and lay in wait for them to arrive. I planned to pick the Waste Mgmt. guy's brains about styrofoam, which I suspected they don't accept in their program. I was right about that.
In addition, when I asked him, he said styrofoam couldn't be recycled. This answer was unacceptable to me.
Enter the internet! I found a place within reasonable driving distance that not only accepts styrofoam, but has drop boxes available 24/7 and it's free. Check, check, check, check.
I Google-mapped my route, wrote the directions on an index card and headed out for a mini-road trip. After stopping for gasoline and road food (hah—a mocha frappuccino), I drove to the freeway and merged.
I got to my destination in almost no time. Given traffic and distance, that was about 45minutes (including the time I spent being slightly lost). I found the place, found the drop boxes, and left that old packaging behind.
Victory! Righteousness! Success!
What are your thoughts on recycling? What have your recycling experiences, if any, been like?
4 people like this
3 responses
@rebelann (112966)
• El Paso, Texas
24 May 17
That was total luck, I had to search just to find a place to recycle glass but I found it. The worst part about this region I'm in is that few people actually care about recycling ....... well, now I'm working on finding a place to recycle used cat litter 
Ok, you know I'm kiddin bout that, right?
Ok, you know I'm kiddin bout that, right?1 person likes this
@blitzfrick (2890)
• United States
24 May 17
LOL! yes I know. 
I used to put old cat litter into my flower beds... It didn't help the clay soil very much so I added mulch and that helped a bit.
Waste Mgmt has a separate bin here for glass, thank goodness. When I lived in Buffalo, TX, there was no official recycling going on at all. I had a compost pile and a burn barrel. I also had piles and piles of leaves from three sycamore trees, until they were cut down. (The roots from two of them were going under the house foundation and the roots from the the third tree were invading the septic tank.)
I asked about recycling in the Buffalo area and was told there had been a collection point but it had shut down due to lack of participation.
However, Lockhart, TX, 30 or 40mi south of Austin, has a really good recycling facility, and also Texas City, 40mi from Houston, has a large and extensive recycling facility. These are "new" developments and (to me) show progress in Texas attitudes toward recycling.
Congratulations on finding that glass recycling facility!
I used to put old cat litter into my flower beds... It didn't help the clay soil very much so I added mulch and that helped a bit.
Waste Mgmt has a separate bin here for glass, thank goodness. When I lived in Buffalo, TX, there was no official recycling going on at all. I had a compost pile and a burn barrel. I also had piles and piles of leaves from three sycamore trees, until they were cut down. (The roots from two of them were going under the house foundation and the roots from the the third tree were invading the septic tank.)
I asked about recycling in the Buffalo area and was told there had been a collection point but it had shut down due to lack of participation.
However, Lockhart, TX, 30 or 40mi south of Austin, has a really good recycling facility, and also Texas City, 40mi from Houston, has a large and extensive recycling facility. These are "new" developments and (to me) show progress in Texas attitudes toward recycling.
Congratulations on finding that glass recycling facility!1 person likes this
@rebelann (112966)
• El Paso, Texas
24 May 17
It's a shame when you think about it @blitzfrick would you believe I drive to NM to recycle glass?
1 person likes this
@blitzfrick (2890)
• United States
26 May 17
@rebelann Yep, I believe it. But NM isn't that far for you, is it? Do you have to go all the way to Las Cruces?
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (472074)
• Switzerland
24 May 17
@blitzfrick If we are caught NOT recycling and throwing in the regular garbage we are severely fined.
1 person likes this
@blitzfrick (2890)
• United States
24 May 17
I love the "lead by example" example! U.S. has made some progress and has a long way to go.
1 person likes this
@blitzfrick (2890)
• United States
24 May 17
@LadyDuck Ah, official negative reinforcement. I think that approach wouldn't work here. Lots of folks don't want the government telling them what to do with their "trash" even though they don't seem to mind its interference in other, more personal, areas. That attitude is how the current POTUS got elected, I think.
1 person likes this
@PatZAnthony (14749)
• Charlotte, North Carolina
24 May 17
We recycle and have found the only use for styrofoam these days is as an insulator. Perhaps we could all put what we do have in our walls? That is almost impossible for many to consider, isn't it @blitzfrick
1 person likes this
@blitzfrick (2890)
• United States
24 May 17
This company I found sends it to China where it's processed into things like pen casings, toothbrush handles, etc.
