My garbage receptacle (the blue one on the left) being much smaller than my recycling one makes me smile every time I see it. It’s like an affirmation of what I value right there in plain view.
I’m not sure when, why or how I developed such a fervor for recycling. But it’s undeniably in my DNA now and I can’t NOT do it.
Not only do I personally have to recycle, I often feel compelled to make sure others do as well.
My son once accused me of being a “recycling nazi.” He said it in jest, of course, after he caught me pulling things out of his trash can that should have been put in the recycling bin. I mean, he’s got curb service for goodness’ sake. It’s just a matter of choosing one of the two bins to drop things in.
I hadn’t said anything to him or his wife when I noticed they were tossing recyclables. They had their hands full with a brand-new baby boy and I rightly figured they had other pressing concerns on their minds.
So, thinking I was being discreet, I simply removed the items and put them in their proper container. When I got busted, I was shocked – no idea they were onto me. And, in all fairness, they do recycle regularly and consistently – I just caught them in a few weak moments.
Going to the trouble
The Athens/Clarke County recycling bags conveniently list items that are recyclable and those that aren’t.
The friends I occasionally travel with would likely echo my son’s joking sentiments. I always put out a plastic or paper bag for the recyclables – and constantly remind them of its presence as well as what goes in it or not.
If a bin is not available on the premises, I volunteer to take the recycling home with me.
Way before curbside recycling service became a norm, I still religiously recycled. Every week or so, I’d load up my car with what I had collected and drive it to the nearest local processing center. Usually it was on the other side of town.
When I lived south of Mobile, Alabama, that trip meant approximately 35 miles round-trip. To make it worth it, I enrolled some of the neighbors to save their recyclables and let me take them, too. They were happy to accommodate for that kind of service.
My car was often brimming over. The trunk was full, back seat and passenger seat as well. That especially made me feel useful.
My housemate at the time was astounded at the difference recycling made in the amount of trash he generated. He went from putting out two or three bags every week for the trash truck to putting out only a partially-filled bag every two weeks.
I don’t dig into public trash cans, but I cringe when I see plastic bottles, cardboard or newspapers in one. It’s 2018 already. Don’t people know what we’re doing to our planet, to our communities?
Maybe not.
Why recycle?
Other than being a conscientious citizen, a good steward of the environment, there are plenty of valid reasons to recycle.
Not least is the availability of landfill for all our waste – around the globe, not just in the U.S. We’re getting close to running out of such space. Remember when there was loose talk about sending trash to the moon?
When we recycle, we generate less waste and hence need less landfill space. Recycled items are re-used rather than discarded.
Recycling also conserves natural resources. One ton of recycled paper saves about 17 trees and 7,000 gallons of water. Pretty incredible, right?
It also reduces air and water pollution. It reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
It saves energy. Recycling aluminum cans saves 95 percent of the energy required to make the same amount from scratch. A ton of recycled aluminum saves 40 barrels of oil.
A ton of recycled plastic saves 16.3 barrels of oil.
Recycling generates jobs. One site shows 10 jobs in processing recyclables to every one at a landfill and 25 jobs in recycling-based manufacturing.
Selling materials that come from recyclables generally offsets the extra cost of collecting and processing them, saving money for communities.
Most of all, recycling just makes you feel good – at least, it does me. I feel like I really am contributing to a healthy environment, making a difference, however small.
Jane Self, PhD, was assistant features editor for the Macon Telegraph and features editor for The Tuscaloosa News. She received her master's degree in secondary education from Louisiana State University in New Orleans and her PhD in education administration from the University of Alabama. 
Jane Self was features editor at The Tuscaloosa News when the Fallen Warriors series began. Although she left the paper, she continued to write these profiles on a freelance basis for The News until the series was stopped in May 2009. Jane has since updated and published them as an E-book. 
In 1991 "60 Minutes" aired a story that attempted to destroy the life and work of EST founder Werner Erhard. Award-winning journalist Jane Self suspected there was more to these allegations than being reported. She discovered an amazing plot of espionage, conspiracy, and sabotage.