THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 16, 1996 TAG: 9605160003
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
More than 30 years passed before communities throughout the United States responded to the alarm and began to recycle household materials. For decades, an ever-growing population was consuming our natural resources at a disastrous pace.
In 1989, Virginia Beach and seven other communities participating in the Southeastern Public Service Authority, whose board comprises the eight communities, adopted curbside recycling. The alarm had been heard in Hampton Roads.
Virginia Beach residents eagerly participated. Curbside recycling was doable - witness the sentinels of blue boxes lined up on our streets on collection days.
On April 24, Virginia Beach City Council voted to withdraw from SPSA curbside collecting effective July 1. City Hall announced that more collection centers would be opened to accept a wider variety of recyclables.
Virginia Beach residents are fine citizens, but as well-intentioned as we are, driving our recyclables to a center will not become a habit. The centers will not encourage recycling. While the population continues to increase, expanding consumption, Virginia Beach has turned off the alarm.
There must be a practical, realistic solution. The city could seek reconsideration of fees at a special meeting of SPSA with all participating communities voting and creatively working with SPSA to continue and improve this vital program.
Conserving natural resources is a worldwide challenge. That challenge must be addressed in Virginia Beach, and it would seem practical to address it regionally through SPSA.
I applaud The Virginian-Pilot for the Infoline question, which revealed overwhelming citizen support for curbside recycling, and for your excellent editorial on this subject.
NANCY C. JOHNSON
Virginia Beach, May 1, 1996 by CNB