Spring Break
Editorial: Changes we'd like to see happen next year
Issue date: 2/6/09 Section: Opinions
Correction added
In grade school, we were all taught the three R's: Reduce, reuse and recycle.
As if some initiative for a greener Earth had been passed by a generation of teachers in the early 1990s, schools pushed environmental awareness nearly as much as math or reading.
Nearly 20 years later, it seems not much has changed.
After a brief period of apathy around the turn of the century, environmental awareness has surged back into the mainstream with backing from celebrities and politicians such as Al Gore.
This green renaissance affects Americans in every walk of life: It's nearly impossible to avoid the green campaign.
Movies such as "An Inconvenient Truth" and "Wall-E" further exemplify this obsession with the environment, pushing people to live more "eco-friendly."
And after many requests by students and citizens, Charleston has finally added not one, but two curbside recycling services.
This is a huge step for the city. Curbside recycling makes living green so much easier for Charleston residents.
Previously, students and residents had to drop off recyclables themselves at a drop-off point near McDonald's on Lincoln Avenue.
Now, students and residents simply sort through their recyclables and leave them in a bin on the curb for company trucks to pick up. The process is easy enough: You sort, you drop, they take. Simple, right?
So why isn't the community as excited about this prospect as they should be?
Rich Galloway is managing director at Veolia Environmental Services, one of the companies offering curbside pickup for residents. In an article published in Thursday's edition of The Daily Eastern News, Galloway said the company has received less response than was anticipated, but remained grateful for those who signed up.
Along with Veolia, Morgan's Disposal Services also offers curbside pickup, and like Veolia, has received less response than desirable.
Manager David Morgan said only about 5 percent of Charleston signed up for the service, but for the most part, it seems much easier to just throw recyclables in with the rest of the garbage.
The green revolution has infiltrated every facet of the media, demanding more and more attention from the general public, but why aren't they listening?
Recycling isn't hard.
It may be a chore, but nobody ever said environmental awareness would not take some effort.
In the future, don't just throw those cans, bottles, papers and boxes away.
Sign up for any of these services being offered.
The city is going out of its way to provide this service and the least we could do is use it.
The editorial is the majority opinion of The DEN editorial board. Reach the opinions editor at: DENopinions@gmail.com.
In grade school, we were all taught the three R's: Reduce, reuse and recycle.
As if some initiative for a greener Earth had been passed by a generation of teachers in the early 1990s, schools pushed environmental awareness nearly as much as math or reading.
Nearly 20 years later, it seems not much has changed.
After a brief period of apathy around the turn of the century, environmental awareness has surged back into the mainstream with backing from celebrities and politicians such as Al Gore.
This green renaissance affects Americans in every walk of life: It's nearly impossible to avoid the green campaign.
Movies such as "An Inconvenient Truth" and "Wall-E" further exemplify this obsession with the environment, pushing people to live more "eco-friendly."
And after many requests by students and citizens, Charleston has finally added not one, but two curbside recycling services.
This is a huge step for the city. Curbside recycling makes living green so much easier for Charleston residents.
Previously, students and residents had to drop off recyclables themselves at a drop-off point near McDonald's on Lincoln Avenue.
Now, students and residents simply sort through their recyclables and leave them in a bin on the curb for company trucks to pick up. The process is easy enough: You sort, you drop, they take. Simple, right?
So why isn't the community as excited about this prospect as they should be?
Rich Galloway is managing director at Veolia Environmental Services, one of the companies offering curbside pickup for residents. In an article published in Thursday's edition of The Daily Eastern News, Galloway said the company has received less response than was anticipated, but remained grateful for those who signed up.
Along with Veolia, Morgan's Disposal Services also offers curbside pickup, and like Veolia, has received less response than desirable.
Manager David Morgan said only about 5 percent of Charleston signed up for the service, but for the most part, it seems much easier to just throw recyclables in with the rest of the garbage.
The green revolution has infiltrated every facet of the media, demanding more and more attention from the general public, but why aren't they listening?
Recycling isn't hard.
It may be a chore, but nobody ever said environmental awareness would not take some effort.
In the future, don't just throw those cans, bottles, papers and boxes away.
Sign up for any of these services being offered.
The city is going out of its way to provide this service and the least we could do is use it.
The editorial is the majority opinion of The DEN editorial board. Reach the opinions editor at: DENopinions@gmail.com.
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Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Charles T. Resident
posted 2/06/09 @ 6:35 AM CST
You can call Veolia at XXX-XXXX and Morgan Disposal at XXX-XXXX for more information and to sign up for curbside recycling - hint, hint...
Chris K
posted 2/06/09 @ 11:19 AM CST
WALL-E hasn't won any Academy Awards yet.
AT
posted 2/08/09 @ 2:02 PM CST
I have a simple question. Is this the headline meant to be on this article or was it on a page template used to create the page and no one changed it? The April 28, 2008, editorial has the exact same headline on a more appropriate editorial. (Continued…)
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