I recently had the pleasure of attending the Governor’s news conference announcing his new Conserve Georgia initiative at Pratt Industries recycling plant located in East Point.
Am I crazy? Probably. As I stood there among piles and piles of trash, I kept thinking of the person who told me they didn't recycle because they heard everything simply got thrown away. The resounding answer is no. I was also excited. So excited that I was witnessing a revolutionary change in how we as Atlantans are turning our trash into resources.
Wal-mart alone recycles 3,000 tons each month of cardboard boxes. Now that the concept of co-mingled recycling is being embraced city wide, it's amazing how much trash is produced that can be processed. As I stood there watching a semi-truck push out a wall of trash packed so tight that it slid out in solid chunks, I wondered if this was the picture that people needed to see to convince them that recycling is not only the right thing to do, or the smart thing to do…it’s the green thing to do. And I don’t mean hug-a-tree green, I mean money green.
Aluminum is 90% percent recycled and is going for eighty cents a pound. Why can’t we get on board with everything else? Paper, plastic, glass, tin and steel can all be recycled and are separated at the plant which after being open for only 6 months is almost at capacity. Studies show that only one in four plastic bottles is recycled…that is throwing petroleum away. In an economy that is being negatively impacted by fuel costs, all too often we overlook all the other things use petroleum. Twelve billion gallons of oil are used a year to produce plastic bags alone. Song quote for this week…Things that make you go hmmm...
Commissioner Mike Beatty has even a larger scope. With the recycling efforts the DCA (Department of Community Affairs) is doing, the state is anticipating a billion dollars in savings. Yes, that’s billions with a "B".
As I continue to change habits including drinking from aluminum cans as much as possible because plastic is petroleum based, I have decided that the next person who says "I’m not recycling because it doesn’t get used" is going to get directions to Pratt in East Point.
