The bad news is that most of what we have been dutifully depositing into the recycling trailers behind the Patagonia Post Office of late is not being recycled at all but going into the landfill along with all the other waste products we so easily discard.
The good news is that we are a community that cares enough to do something about it…and do something we will.
The PRT’s commitment is to not only provide residents of Eastern Santa Cruz County with timely news cover- age, thoughtful dialogue and useful information but to serve as a catalyst for bringing people together to take ac on that elevates the quality of life in this community. The breakdown we are observing in the county’s current recycling program, we believe, can be measurably improved if interested citizens will step forward, get a good understanding of the causes for the system’s failure and take action to remedy this unacceptable state of affairs.
We want to be clear that we are not about placing blame on anyone for the present state of a airs. Not even China, which has precipitated the recycling crisis worldwide by refusing to continue accepting so-called recyclables contaminated with so much trash that simply sorting through it had become financially untenable. They probably should have taken that step long ago and they may have done us and the planet a huge favor.
We know solutions will not come easily either here in our community or nationwide, but we strongly believe we can and will find ways to turn this recycling failure into success. And to get us started we have planned a community forum focused on understanding the dimensions of the problem both locally and on the national and worldwide levels and enlisting local activists who will come together to develop a plan for gettng our recycling back on track.
Please join us at 10:30a.m. on January 18 at the Tin Shed Theater to get working on our local response to this global problem. We will begin the program with a knowledgeable speaker and/or video, follow with open discussion and finish by signing up volunteers who want to be agents of change.Â