Every few weeks the plastic shrink wrapped phone books mysteriously arrive. A few different companies. Many that look the same. They keep coming by the pound.
After today's newest addition I set-out to recycle a stack of phone books as high as my hip that had accumulated in a closet. In my town phonebooks are not allowed to be added in with the paper recycling. You have to take them to a specific facility in the downtown area of my village. Before I left I called the recycling number proved in one of the phone books to confirm the location.
After I dropped Girlie off at a new friend's house, I asked the mom if she had any phone books that needed recycling. The mother handed the phone books over with a confused look on her face...will her daughter be allowed to play over at the crazy recycling lady's house? I have my doubts.
On my way home I swung by where I remembered the phonebook recycling bin to be. Only it was gone.
Now I had to drive home and call the friendly people at the highway department. Sometimes I wonder why they pick-up when they see me calling....again. This time they did in fact pick-up. I was told that the closest phone book recycling center is a fifteen minute drive...each way...from my house. Seriously?!?
Is the town TRYING to make phone book recycling difficult? They allow phone book after phone book after phone book to be dropped on our driveways yet they don't give us an easy solution as to how to get rid of them. Why can't we drop them by the town garage? Why not the town hall? The library perhaps?
By having the recycling bin behind some random phone company building on the other side of town, the town is practically forcing us residents to toss the books in the trash. How many other people are as crazy as I am to go out of their way to recycle something as everyday as a phone book? I bet my reusable, metal water bottle that the vast majority of those phone books will be forever relegated to the landfill.
Back in 2000, my fair state of Connecticut set a recycling goal of 40%. We aren't there eight years later.
Governor M. Jodi Rell has spearheaded the One Thing Campaign in order to promote environmental awareness and help the citizens save energy. That's great Governor Rell, but what can you do to help my town become involved?
Calling all neighbors! I'll swing by this afternoon to pick-up your old phone books for recycling.
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