some informal empirical evidence about recycling

I have been trying to walk a bit (about 1.5 miles, I'd guess) every day - not easy in the perma-rain we have been experiencing for the last several weeks. Today is trash/recycling day in the hood.

1.Recycling rates are highest in the single-family areas inhabited by retirees. (They also have the least trash - like one tiny bag per household.)

2.Recycling rates are almost non-existent in the two-family and three-family areas. I could be all sanctimonious about this (because we recycle extensively) but there is a strand of thinking that says that curbside recycling is mainly just a eco-feel-good mechanism for the middle class. What we need to do is have/use/buy less stuff in the first place.

3.Most of what is being recycled in my neighborhood is plastic. That's bottles for water, milk, juice, and sports-type drinks, as well as plastic containers for food (like the ones berries come in). Also some styrofoam, like doggy-bag containers - I didn't know those were recyclable. Very little paper. We, on the other hand, recycle a LOT of paper, with our two daily papers plus the NYT Sunday, and now I'm recycling junk mail too. This is apparently not the common thing. Very little glass and metal.

4.At around 3:30 this morning, the bottle harvesters came through. There is an old guy with a shopping cart who makes the rounds around dinnertime on Mondays and sometimes makes a second pass early Tuesday. This was more organized: in a car, quick, and relatively quiet (I've been known to go down and yell if they make a racket). When I checked the bins this morning, all the redeemables were gone.

5.I will be interested to see if the regular trash dudes pick up my neighbor's yard waste. They aren't supposed to, but sometimes they do. (Although not usually from my neighbor; there is some sort of favoritism thing going on perhaps.) Yep, the yard waste is being taken! Score one for the neighbors!

6.All our trash was taken. We put a lot of wood out this week, left over from the garage cleanout 2 weeks ago. Next up: the shed cleanout. Summer vacation fun never ceases!