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Cities increasingly turn to 'Trash Police' to enforce recycling laws
From the Editors
"Beware the green police. They don't carry guns and there's no police academy to train them, but if you don't recycle your trash properly, they can walk up your driveway and give you a $100 ticket.
They know what's in your trash, they know what you eat, they know how often you bring your recycles to the curb -- and they may be coming to your town soon. That is, if they're not already there.
In a growing number of cities across the U.S., local governments are placing computer chips in recycling bins to collect data on refuse disposal, and then fining residents who don't participate in recycling efforts and forcing others into educational programs meant to instill respect for the environment.
From Charlotte, N.C., to Cleveland, Ohio, from Boise, Idaho, to Flint, Mich., the green police are spreading out. And that alarms some privacy advocates who are asking: Should local governments have the right to monitor how you divide your paper cups from your plastic forks? Is that really the role of government?"
| Each month I spend hours separating plastic from aluminum beverage containers, storing them, and using my car and gasoline to drive them to the recycling center. There I wait in line, usually in the hot sun, to get a few bucks back on the CRV. And I never see the sales tax paid on the CRV again, which we never get back.
In the days before no-deposit, no-return bottles and cans, beverage containers were returned to the stores, cleaned, and reused. Makes sense. Now they are melted down and "remanufactured" at who knows what cost in energy and labor. Whose brilliant idea was this?
The one certainty is that states where recycling is voluntary have no problem or need for mandated government subservience. Stores put out bins. If containers get recycled, they get recycled. If not, no big loss. Recycling is not an end in itself. When you ask about recycling, they say, "Oh, you must live in Caifornia."
Time is money and our most valuable commodity. If my time is worth between $50 and $100 an hour and I get back, say, $20, I am wasting my time. But it is my time to waste and my choice. I, not government, should have the final say over how I spend it. In other words, we should be able to set our own priorities and live our lives as we see fit.
Recycling may be a moral or social obligation but should not be a legal one. Our Nanny-State government has no business sticking its nose in our trash. |
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| Richard Deight - Sep 13, 2010 09:33:42 AM | Remove Comment |
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| This is no different from code enforcement. It harms us all when people don't properly handle their trash, which includes recycling. It is entirely within the role of government to manage behaviors which can negatively impact society as a whole.
Ideally, these code enforcement officers can be largely supported by fines, and we all benefit without incurring any significant public expense. |
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| clpeterson - Sep 13, 2010 07:44:00 AM | Remove Comment |
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| Why would anyone care if the police know what you throw away and recycle? Police already have the right to go through trash on a curb as it is so what difference does it makes? Americans are so lazy. Recycle, its not that hard folks. |
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| Green day - Sep 10, 2010 04:03:04 PM | Remove Comment |
