Recycling. It is the key to the future. Recycling is where the next new, big money is coming from. The next great technological breakthroughs that will create new wealth will be in waste to energy. I believe that. I do have faith that we, the people will be able to sort out our governmental issues but it's going to take a long time. In the meantime, we the people will have to get really clever, really resourceful and really realistic in order to maintain any sort of quality of life. We must get in the habit of recycling. There are record numbers of people without homes, couch surfing or out on the street who were fine upstanding, hard working Americans just a year or two ago. If you are living in a nice home, in an extra-medium home or even a crappy, stupid home, you gotta be really thankful for that. We, as families and as communities are being called upon to take care of our own instead of waiting for someone to legislate a bright and safe future for us. We have to relearn to use what we have available to us as raw materials to make the things we will need, since this buy-it-all-new consumer based society is getting a bit wonky.
I say "relearn" because frugality and recycling used to be part of the American zeitgeist (zeitgeist - the general intellectual, moral and cultural climate of an era - as defined by Merriam Webster) or what I call the Common Knowledge. It was only a couple generations ago that is was common knowledge to sew our own clothes, make our own rugs and never waste anything. Grandpa's old suit was made of such quality materials that it was cut down and refitted to make a suit for the Grandson. Strands of hair from the hairbrush were braided into strong laces. Homemakers would buy the "whole 9 yards" of fabric at the dry goods store and use every bit of it. Old grain sacks were curtains, old curtains were aprons, old aprons were made into fishing hats. (I actually use drapery remnants to make my fishing hats, but I'm getting off topic) Over just the last two generations, the homemaker has had to get a job out in the big world to fit the new reality. Our homes, our society and our children have been the big losers in this consumer driven experiment because there isn't anyone running the household any longer. All the great homemaker skills have been modified to suit a profession and now we buy our food encased in packaging, our clothing and homegoods all should be aired out before we bring them into our homes because they reek of bad chemistry. How many of you reading this know better than to wear any new clothes or use any new towels before you've washed it? Wash everything and air out everything made of new pressed board, fiber or acrylic before you bring it into your homes, it's not safe to breathe the gasses coming off these new products. Our Grandmothers would be (or are still) disgusted.
OK. enough soap-boxing about where we were and where we are. How about some helpful hints to get us where we need to be, eh Betty?
Paper, paper board (cereal boxes for instance), cardboard, plastic, glass and aluminum cans is where we start to think about recycling. EcoMaine operates a waste to energy plant, an ash-landfill site and a recycling operation owned and operated by 21 Southern Maine municipalities with contracts to service 25 other communities. This is their website for more information http://www.ecomaine.org/. Last Monday, the Portland Press Herald reported EcoMaine is making it's last payment on the $70 million it owed two years earlier than expected. This, my darlings is such good news. The company had a major restructuring in 2004 and have established themselves as one of the premier leaders in eco friendly, safe and responsible waste management in the country. Read more for yourselves
Paper, paper board (cereal boxes for instance), cardboard, plastic, glass and aluminum cans is where we start to think about recycling. EcoMaine operates a waste to energy plant, an ash-landfill site and a recycling operation owned and operated by 21 Southern Maine municipalities with contracts to service 25 other communities. This is their website for more information http://www.ecomaine.org/. Last Monday, the Portland Press Herald reported EcoMaine is making it's last payment on the $70 million it owed two years earlier than expected. This, my darlings is such good news. The company had a major restructuring in 2004 and have established themselves as one of the premier leaders in eco friendly, safe and responsible waste management in the country. Read more for yourselves
http://www.pressherald.com/news/ecomaine-to-pay-off-debt-early-lower-member-costs_2012-04-24.html
Casella owns the newly closed waste to energy plant in Biddeford (the town closed the facility due to pollution problems - read more on this timely topic in the Bangor Daily News which covers the Old Town area)
http://bangordailynews.com/2012/09/26/business/casellas-bid-to-send-southern-maine-municipal-trash-to-old-town-raises-concerns/
The Lewiston/Auburn area has been approached by Casella seeking a 30 year contract with the City of Lewiston to take over it's waste management system. The Twin City Times has covered this issue in three parts which you can read here...
http://www.twincitytimes.com/news/opponents-question-casella-operations-in-maine-communities.
The take away here is there is a lot going on in Maine right now, that will determine the future not just of our state but of waste management in general. The 20th Annual North American Waste to Energy Conference is being hosted by EcoMaine and is going on this week, so the whole world is watching to see how well we do. This is huge, my babies, this is huge.
http://www.mswmanagement.com/MSW/Editorial/Ecomaine_to_Host_20th_Annual_North_American_Wastet_16013.aspx
We in Maine are very lucky to have an organization like EcoMaine helping us with our waste, we need to feed this system with everything we have. If you live in EcoMaine's terrritory, feed this system with everything you've got. We must take care of our own. We must recycle so that the current and future waste management companies know what they have to work with and can make the best decisions based on the reality of our needs. If EcoMaine isn't operating in your area, feed the system you have so that the town councils in your area can best decide what needs to be done based on the reality of our situations.
On the more practical, in our homes, aspects of recycling, we have habit. I'll get this posted for now so interested parties (you, I'm hoping) will read about this state wide issue while it's still hot. When I get to typing again, I'll talk about the recycling habits in our homes and have helpful hints on how to do that. Thanks for reading, thanks for thinking and thanks for recycling.
http://bangordailynews.com/2012/09/26/business/casellas-bid-to-send-southern-maine-municipal-trash-to-old-town-raises-concerns/
The Lewiston/Auburn area has been approached by Casella seeking a 30 year contract with the City of Lewiston to take over it's waste management system. The Twin City Times has covered this issue in three parts which you can read here...
http://www.twincitytimes.com/news/opponents-question-casella-operations-in-maine-communities.
The take away here is there is a lot going on in Maine right now, that will determine the future not just of our state but of waste management in general. The 20th Annual North American Waste to Energy Conference is being hosted by EcoMaine and is going on this week, so the whole world is watching to see how well we do. This is huge, my babies, this is huge.
http://www.mswmanagement.com/MSW/Editorial/Ecomaine_to_Host_20th_Annual_North_American_Wastet_16013.aspx
We in Maine are very lucky to have an organization like EcoMaine helping us with our waste, we need to feed this system with everything we have. If you live in EcoMaine's terrritory, feed this system with everything you've got. We must take care of our own. We must recycle so that the current and future waste management companies know what they have to work with and can make the best decisions based on the reality of our needs. If EcoMaine isn't operating in your area, feed the system you have so that the town councils in your area can best decide what needs to be done based on the reality of our situations.
On the more practical, in our homes, aspects of recycling, we have habit. I'll get this posted for now so interested parties (you, I'm hoping) will read about this state wide issue while it's still hot. When I get to typing again, I'll talk about the recycling habits in our homes and have helpful hints on how to do that. Thanks for reading, thanks for thinking and thanks for recycling.
No comments:
Post a Comment