Your April 9 editorial titled “Trading burning for blue bags” properly praised the city for retiring the Northwest Incinerator, thus freeing the city and its citizens to work on the only inexpensive and environmentally sound alternative–recycling.
We are tempted to ask the city to redo its recycling ads to focus less on blue bags and more on our duty as citizens–including high-rise dwellers and businesses as well as those served by city refuse service–to recycle within the systems that are available. Even if citizens feel the system available to them needs improving, they bear the responsibility to begin recycling immediately. Indeed, a high level of citizen participation in existing recycling systems will contribute directly to their improvement.
It is better for the city to sort refuse for recyclables (as is done in the blue-bag plants) than not to. And it is better that these recyclables are protected by and identified by being in a blue bag. Furthermore, blue-bag plants will be improved and other recycling systems will be introduced to supplement the blue-bag program.
I urge you to recycle with the system that is available to you, even as you seek to improve it.
