What's Going On: Recycling a dream without cash kicker

As General Manager of the Red Oak Express and the Glenwood Opinion-Tribune, I have had the opportunity the last 3.5 years to watch one of man’s not so greatest creations grow in front of my own eyes.

About five miles east of Glenwood is a daily growing mountain, a testament to our disposable society, mired in laziness and indifference; it is a giant landfill.

And thanks to their Montgomery County neighbors to the east, which recently closed its own landfill a short time ago, Mills County’s monument to garbage is the second largest in the state.

That’s a lot of garbage.

Every time I drive by that mountain of trash, I feel two pangs of guilt.

One stems from the residents on the north side of Highway 34. There’s a nice housing development with about a dozen fairly new homes. Mount Garbage wasn’t there when those homes were built, and since the mountain’s appearance, new ones haven’t been added.

It’s no wonder. Instead of a picturesque rural country setting, now those residents get to live inside a new home with a view of a landfill. Fortunately, there view is somewhat restricted thanks to the land’s topography, but the fact the homes sit in a lower elevation also work to their disadvantage as their yards become a refuge for debris whenever the wind is from the south.

I don’t even want to think about the smell, especially during the summer months.

But the more overriding pang of guilt comes from the realization that I have contributed to that mountain of garbage.

A recent IowaWatch.org story revealed nearly 75 percent of all trash found in landfills could be recycled.

That’s a huge number. Three out of every four tons doesn’t need to be there. But it is, and I’m as guilty as anyone.

We make a token effort to recycle. Most of our plastics, glass, paper and cardboard are sorted out and I’m far too much of a true fiscal conservative (a.k.a. cheapskate) to throw out a five-cent aluminum can.

But even with those fairly easily recyclables, we aren’t as diligent as we could/should be.

However, my family’s greatest contribution to Mount Garbage comes in two forms: diapers and food.

We could use cloth diapers, but we don’t. Let me be honest: my wife doesn’t. I help with the occasional diaper, but that responsibility is usually one I avoid (what? I didn’t smell a thing … I had no idea it was that bad) leaving me in no position to “advise” anyone on saving the environment by washing soiled diapers.

And then there’s food waste. We send some things down the garbage disposal, but not much. Even worse, I don’t know a first thing about a compost pile.

My only solace is the knowledge I’m not alone. In fact, I would bet I’m better than most in regards to the amount of my family’s trash that could be recycled. I’m sure that figure isn’t as high as 75 percent. No way it’s more than, oh say, 60 percent, so how bad can I be?

Plus, I can blame the government. Recycling is more difficult than it should be, with no state programs, leaving the responsibility on individual communities.

The result is small rural towns, like Red Oak and Glenwood, lacking the needed resources to offer curbside recycling, send unnecessary trash to the landfills.

When it comes to recycling, if it isn’t easy and convenient, consumers aren’t interested.

However, curbside recycling isn’t the cure all to this problem as it lacks one key motival factor: money.

Garbage service is as much of a utility expense as natural gas, propane, electricity or water. But unlike those daily necessities, it’s the one utility we essentially pay the same amount for, regardless of usage (barring commercial customers).

Unfortunately, under the current business model, there is no financial motivation to recycle. If I knew throwing out one bag of garbage would cost half as much as throwing out two, that would appeal to my fiscal-conservative (cheapskate) side.

Throw in a little savings every month on consumers trash bill and it would be amazing how much more motivated they, I mean me, would become.

Gregory Orear is the General Manager/Editor of the Red Oak Express and Glenwood Opinion-Tribune. He can be contacted at publisher@redoakexpress.com.