Recycling in Philly

Philadelphia has recently started single-stream curbside recycling. This is a good start to improving a rather mediocre recycling system, which has been one of the city’s greater challenges to transforming into a greener city.

Although many argue that municipal recycling programs are uneconomic, the reality is that by recycling we will save in the long run. Philadelphia and other major urban centers need to be thinking more long term.
Many manufacturers are willing to damage the greater system in order to produce more cheaply. Turning “waste” into re-usable material does cost money and therefore creates the incentive for companies and individuals to simply throw waste away for free.

The bar needs to be raised higher. Costs need to be internalized through fines for poor resource management, and taxes should be implemented on primary use of resources as ways of justifying the neglect towards greater systems IN WHICH ‘economics’ operates.

People need to accept that giving more effort (or spending a little more in economic terms) in order to achieve a more quality outcome is the crucial point. Do we want to settle for a less quality world simply because we don’t feel like giving more effort or spending a little more to make it better?

Even in economic terms, there is more net loss in terms of ecological loss and in terms of fixing environmental damage from tossing all our waste into the environment than by trying to use less, and to re-use a greater percentage of what we do use.
Although there are signs that recycling awareness is increasing in Philadelphia, the beneficial aspects need to be more accessible for citizens and the process itself needs to become more user-friendly. Curbside recycling for the city is a great thing though; I just hope that it has a snow-ball effect.