Editor:

Until somewhat recently, you’d find me lugging bins of glass, plastic, cardboard and metals from my Centerville home every week to the large recycling containers on 2nd West in Bountiful. I saw it as my personal contribution to a healthy environment. So, you may wonder why I chose last week to opt-out of Centerville’s curbside recycling program, a program which for years I assumed would be superior. The answer is simply that I started to ask questions. I found that Centerville and other Davis cities have already been recycling since 1984. Fifty percent (with a claimed potential of 100 percent) of our trash feeds the burn plant that powers Hill Air Force Base. Under the new program, only about 10 percent (with a claimed potential of 30 percent) will actually be recycled. Also, blue recycling cans and regular black trash cans are sorted at the exact same facility. So since I only use one trash can, I would be paying an extra $3 or $4 for the same service I receive now. A blue can is about half of the cost of a second black one, so the curb-side program will cost less for homeowners who use more than one can, though it still appears to be inferior in percentage recycled. The numbers only tell part of the story. It is my understanding that recycling from some Davis cities is right now sitting in storage. There is no accountability with curb-side “recycling” or more accurately, curb-side sorting.

Where is it recycled? China? Well, apparently, we only know it goes through several different vendors but I never found an endpoint. Some ends up shipped on barges but it is impossible to trace. Some contend that our recycling ends up in open pit landfills overseas or in the ocean. However, I do not know if this can be proven.

After weighing environmental and economic pros and cons, I have decided to opt-out of Centerville curb-side recycling. I am just one ordinary person trying to do what is right for my family and community and be a responsible steward.

Nancy Peterson

Centerville