Earth Day should inspire us to recycle

The first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, activated 20 million Americans from all walks of life and is widely credited with launching the modern environmental movement. The passage of the landmark Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act and many other groundbreaking environmental laws soon followed. Twenty years later, Earth Day went global, mobilizing 200 million people in more than 190 countries and lifting environmental issues onto the world stage.

One example of this movement, Earth Day Network works year round to solve climate change, to end plastic pollution, to protect endangered species, and to broaden, educate and activate the environmental movement across the globe. The United States Environmental Protection Agency has great information on their website about Earth Day and how our actions impact the environment, whether helping or hurting our planet. Tools are available to help you learn and understand the issues and help you reduce your environmental footprint.

A great man once said: “It is time for us now as a nation to exercise the same reasonable foresight in dealing with our great natural resources that would be shown by any prudent man in conserving and widely using the property which contains the assurance of well-being for himself and his children” — President Theodore Roosevelt 1858-1919, remarks at the Conference on Conservation of Natural Resources, 1908.

Recycle Hi-Line wants to thank everyone who recycles responsibly! When the transition occurred from having a monthly recycle event to the 24/7 drop off at Pacific Steel and Recycling we were hopeful we had done enough education for it to be a success. There have been some bumps in the road with the cardboard drop off being changed to Havre Day Activity Center and that we can no longer take glass.

Now, many months down the road, we continue to have issues with items being placed in the incorrect bins, bags of mixed items, and glass, cardboard and trash being left in the area. Commodity prices are very low and so there is little-no revenue generated by most of the products. Please do your part in using the correct bins and helping us keep recycling areas clean and tidy.

Havre Day Activity Center is only able to recycle corrugated cardboard as it is the only type that currently has any value. The paperboard (used for things such as cereal boxes) and chipboard (used for things like shoe boxes) has no value at this point. As the market changes, there may be different guidelines. Individuals have been very considerate when dropping cardboard at HDAC and their employees rarely have to clean up a mess!

Rules with plastic:

• #1 & #2 plastic together- large bag holders are labeled

• #5 plastic-large bag holders are labeled

• tie bags shut

• triple rinse and remove lids

It is very important to have clean and sorted plastics as any contamination can cause the entire bale to be rejected and end up in a landfill. The best first step with plastic is to start cutting it out of your life. For example, check out a company I discovered that is making solid, packaging-free shampoo and one bar is the equivalent of three bottles of shampoo. When considering anything you may purchase, ask yourself these two questions: “Do I need it?” and “Can I use something else?” Many plastic products you may frequently use are generally unnecessary-do you really need a straw to drink a glass of water? Or why are you buying the expensive water in a plastic bottle? Did you know that often tap water is tested more frequently than bottled water so it is “safer”? Odd tasting water does not necessarily mean it is unhealthy or contaminated and may be a result of chlorination or mineral content. Using a filter and a reusable water bottle is much less expensive and can help the environment.

More information is available at https://recyclehiline.org/ or check us out on Facebook.

——

Wanda Meredith is chair of Recycle Hi-Line.