Why is it that Houston has the worst recycling record in the country? What will it take for Houstonians to come together and realize that our planet should not be treated as a dumping ground? As a Houston resident, I am embarrassed that my city is last on the list when it comes to something as important as recycling.
Our country's consumption oriented culture produces inordinate amounts of waste and certain municipalities don't bother to mitigate the impact of this waste on the environment. At least in San Francisco, residents can feel comfortable that a majority of their trash does not end up piled up in landfills polluting the earth for eons.
The City of Houston has one of the nation's strongest economies in this time of hardship, yet public officials refuse to spend a few dollars on protecting our planet. In other cities, recycling has been integrated into the fabric of society through programs that have made it accessible to ordinary citizens. In Houston, not only can I not leave my recycling outside to be collected alongside my trash, the nearest recycling facility is several miles away so I have to gas up my car and drive to another part of town just to drop of my recyclables. Environmentally conscious business owners have expressed that they too have to jump through hoops if they choose to recycle.
I guess it's only fitting that a fossil fuel hotbed like Houston wouldn't care about the footprint that we as humans are leaving on our only planet.
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2 comments:
wow. only 2.6 percent is recycled. that is a shame. i can see why san fran has 69 percent recycle rate. i tell you one thing, you can always find a recycling bin wherever you go in that city, no excuses. i remember that so well.
you can thanks people like my parents for that. They argue on end about how it's their right not to sort their trash.
Naturally after living in Japan for so long that's one of the immediate eye sores when i visit.
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