Three experts on the negative effects our trash can have on the environment, mapped out ways Sunday on how residents, local governments and businesses can boost recycling and composting efforts locally and state-wide.
Much of the responsibility of eliminating the amount of trash people throw out and into local landfills rests on consumers picking the most easily recyclable materials when they shop, Heidi Quince, co-owner of Simply Bulk Market in Longmont.
“We have to ask ourselves, ‘What kind of legacy are we leaving,’” Quince told an audience at the Longmont Museum’s Stewart Auditorium. “We have to be responsible for what we pull off of the shelves. As consumers we have to be aware.”
Quince was part of a panel discussion at the Longmont Museum’s Steward Auditorium that is part of a series of talks entitled “Climate Action Sundays.” Panelists discuss different aspects of rolling back climate change. Sunday’s talk focused on recycling household and business waste.
The other panelists were Randy Moorman of Eco-Cycle and Tim Broderick of Boulder County’s Zero Waste Action Plan. They told the audience that most of our trash bins are full of man-made oil, gas and silicon products that damage the environment.
“It’s all part of our story of waste,” Broderick said. “Our wildlife health is impacted, our human health is impacted.”
Moorman and Brodercik pointed to legislative and local government efforts to boost recycling and composting.
Moorman said that recycling programs have become more common on many portions of the Front Range. However, rural Colorado communities and people in multi-family complexes often don’t have adequate access to recycling, he said.
Recycling state-wide can expand after Colorado lawmakers this year passed the “Producer Responsibility Program for Recycling” that is paid for by the annual dues paid by the producers of packaging materials and paper products, Moorman said.
The program means “every Coloradan gets access to recycling,” Moorman said. “Hopefully, we can make huge strides over the next couple of years.”
Zero Waste ordinances are also being considered by some communities, including Longmont, Moorman said. Last month, the Longmont City Council passed an updated Zero Waste Resolution that sets new targets and guides future decision-makers on reducing waste in the city.
The panelists said local businesses can attract better employees if they become leaders in the recycling movement.
“Employees can be very choosy,” Moorman said. “An employee can say ‘I may work for you if you have really green credentials.”
