THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 10, 1996 TAG: 9605090173
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
Years of recycling going down dumpster
I am furious! For six years, I have faithfully recycled all my glass, plastic, aluminum and newspapers.
I have carted those heavy papers to the nearest school collection box. I have driven from ``igloo'' to ``igloo'' in search of one that was not full. I have stood in cold winter winds trying to stuff those milk bottles one by one into the too small openings of those poorly designed ``igloos.'' I have fended off wasps around the aluminum ``igloo'' (thanks to thoughtless people who didn't rinse the cans before disposing of them). I have envied other neighborhoods with their convenient curbside recycling bins. Then, finally, just last November, curbside recycling reached Three Oaks. Oh, happy day! My recycling headaches were gone.
What's this? SPSA wants to charge me $1 a month to pick up my recyclables? Small price to pay for the ease and convenience of the service it provides. So please explain to me how our city leaders decided that the residents of Virginia Beach aren't willing to pay such a pittance?
One thing I can assure our council and city manager - my recycling days are over!
Regina Z. Tefft
April 25
For years now our household has separated-sorted-stacked and put that blue box at the curb - now City Hall is going to take it away. Well, I won't recycle then. I'll put it all in the black plastic flop-top can, as I'm sure many more will, too.
How long before the flop-top can also will be taken away? Whoopee! ``Life in the country,'' right here in the world's largest resort city. I can see and smell those roadside dumpsters now.
Daniel E. Hammer
May 1
I think the city did the correct thing when it refused to go along with the $1 per month charge for curbside collection of recyclables.
I took my recyclables to the collection points before curbside pick-up and will continue to do so. SPSA was supposed to be a no-cost operation, saving money by burning the burnables to provide steam to sell to the Navy and offsetting costs by selling the recycled material recovered. It has evidently turned into an empire building operation or another bureaucracy. The bigger your operation, the higher your salary and the more assistants you must have who in turn must have more people to supervise to justify their existence. It happens too much in government-sponsored functions.
So I say to City Council, do not weaken in the face of orchestrated opposition and continue to oppose the fee requested by SPSA.
H.T. Cook
April 30
I am in favor of giving up curbside recycling and returning to the local centers if I am going to have to pay additional fees or taxes for the service. We pay more than enough taxes, and I am opposed to any tax increase (or additional fees). Curbside recycling is new, and before that many residents did use the local recycling centers. Whenever I went to dump off my recyclable trash, the bins were usually full, indicating many people used them. So where do you now say people will not recycle using the local centers? Please don't put negative ideas into people's heads - give them a positive encouragement to recycle using the centers.
I suggest the city put the recycle centers convenient to people's neighborhoods so one doesn't have to travel all around the city to find one. I also suggest that they empty the bins regularly so they don't get so full and then one has to go find another center to use.
Brenda Rouleau
April 29 by CNB