Recycling Program in New Community

Our feet are now in West Virginia, our household goods are in the back of semi truck somewhere on the interstate, and our hearts are in limbo.  We are not sure what to think of our new digs because we are currently living in a hotel room.  As usual, the banks extended closing for at least another week because the 3rd underwriter discovered that our loan was in the wrong "class" because of the acreage.  They also requested to have handrails installed in the garage and barn.  This is not the news a buyer wants to receive three before closing when the movers had already packed all of our stuff.  So...we are trying our best to roll with the punches and not pull our hair out while living in a hotel room surrounded by fast food restaurants.  It was a bit of a letdown to not see recycle bins in the hotel and to be eating on disposable dishware the first day.  Thankfully, the hotel uses enviroware dishware which is made with recyclable material and is biodegradable; but who knows what that really means and under what conditions these items actually degrade.  It is the next best option to durable-ware though.

I challenge myself to see the glass half full and see the lack of curbside recycling as an opportunity to make a difference in this new community.  I am already conjuring up a letter that I will send to the waste haulers and city about the recycling program.  (And who knows, maybe I'm creating a job for myself??)  At this time, recycling is provided, but folks have to haul it to a facility, and at this time, I don't even know what is collected.  It is a bummer that we will have to store recyclables in the garage because that means less space to work in; BUT that also challenges us to reduce and reuse more because recycling is essentially the last resort.  So...in the meantime, we have a paper bag collecting all of our paper in the hotel room.  Looking back, I was in 4th grade (1993) when I helped deliver recycle bins to residents in my hometown with a population of 5,018 people.  This rural town in Wisconsin manages to pick up recyclables at the curb with a horse trailer today.

The glamour and glitz may be missing from their recycling program, but if there's a will, there's a way!