About a week ago, a colleague, Karen Thailing, and I were talking about the ways different communities handle curbside trash and recycling pickup. (Karen and I are taking part in the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste Management District’s Master Recycler Program. You’ll hear more from me about this excellent program in the next few weeks.)

Karen offered a perspective on trash disposal and recycling that fits nicely into the mindset, “I can’t do everything, but I can do something.” Here are her thoughts:

At the beginning of September, the Village of Chagrin Falls switched from Waste Management to Kimble for their trash and recycling pickup.

The new recycling dumpsters have advantages over those from Waste Management in that they are considerably larger and, naturally, have a lid, thus protecting recyclables from the elements and critters.

As much as we recycle, it’s nearly impossible to fill the container each week. Therefore, in order to save the driver time and gas, we only need to put our recyclables curbside once every three or four weeks.

Likewise, our one-bag-a-week trash is usually deposited into our neighbors’ bin (with their permission, of course), again saving the driver one extra stop.

Every “litter” bit helps!

Thanks, Karen! I need to think more the way you do.

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