Get some green for thinking green
Roslindale/West Roxbury Transcript, February 14, 2007

For those of you who don’t care about recycling and see no need to play any role in helping to help save the planet, Councilor Michael Flaherty wants to help bring a lot more inspiration. He wants a hearing to examine the services of a Philadelphia-based company, RecycleBank. This company uses an incentive program to encourage people to recycle.

According to a press release sent last week from Flaherty’s office, “the company provides residents with recycling barrels equipped with a computer chip, and when the trash is picked up, their recycling barrels are weighed and scanned, a process that translates into ‘RecycleBank Dollars’ for residents.”

Residents will be able to keep track of those recycling “dollars” in online accounts. And the way the system works right now, people can use their trash cash at “nationally participating stores such as Target, Starbucks and Whole Foods.”

But Flaherty has a better idea. He would like to start a “pilot program that would partner with local businesses where residents can spend their coupons.”

One of the biggest annoyances for people who don’t enjoy recycling is sorting their recyclable trash. Under this program, residents will not have to bother with that. Instead, recyclables are all in one bin — up to 96 gallons in size. Those items include paper, plastic, tin and aluminum cans and glass bottles.

According to Flaherty, the city spent $171 million over the last four years to collect and dispose of residents’ trash. The city wants all residents to do their part in the recycling campaign. A hearing is being scheduled to look into the matter.

“Anything we can do to encourage Bostonians to recycle is good, especially when we know it will save the city millions in waste disposal, protect the environment and inject needed monies into our local business districts,” he said.

On the surface, this seems like a great idea. It would get more people to recycle. And under Flaherty’s plan, the “dollars” people would earn from recycling would be spent at local businesses — something that would certainly help bring more people to stores and restaurants in the city.

There are a few areas that need to be worked out with this. One thing is that the city needs to do a better job to make sure that the rubbish collectors are doing their job. A resident recently wrote to the Transcript, saying that one morning he observed the trash meant for recycling being tossed in with the unrecyclable trash. He says he is not the only one to make that observation and he’s not the only one to report that observation to us. Trash collectors need to do their job in a professional and honest manner. Anything less should never be tolerated. Taxpayers deserve to see that those paid to provide service actually do their job. If trash collectors can’t do their job properly, the city should terminate the contract and find a company with workers who have a lot more integrity.

And speaking of dishonest — getting paid based on the amount of recyclable trash a residents puts out may lead to some people helping themselves to their neighbors’ trash to add extra volume to their recycling container.

But beyond the possibility of some trash theft, we believe this is an idea with a lot of potential.

According to Flaherty’s office, “Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware residents are currently using the program, and the company is looking to expand into New York and Massachusetts. Worcester, Everett and Somerville are other cities reportedly interested in the program.”

The vast majority of scientists agree that global warming is real, it’s already happening and that it is the result of our activities and not a natural occurrence. Despite many years of efforts by the Bush administration to hide and discredit the truth on this, the evidence is overwhelming and undeniable.

The facts of what is happening to this planet and what this means, not just for future generations, but for right now should be enough to encourage everyone to do their part — but we know that will not be the case. That’s where the recycling cash will become the great incentive to help a lot more people think green.

Close window