Change is in the wind.
They're coming. We don't know exactly when, but sometime before October, they will be here. Some of you already have them. Soon it will be our turn.
Like everyone else in town, we'll be getting three big new trashcans in the near future. Rainbow Disposal has already started delivering them to some neighborhoods.
Over the next five months, they will replace the old system with the new system everywhere in town. We're already starting to prepare our minds for the change.
Many people are resistant to change, and we're no different. We get set in our ways, we have a system that works for us, and we don't want to change it. But our old system of trash collection is outmoded. It isn't suitable for a modern society that must reduce the stream of trash that goes into a landfill.
The state requires that 50% of trash be recycled, and in the future it may be 75%.
As conservationists, we embrace this change with open arms. But as crotchety old people set in our ways, we'll mutter under our breaths about it at the same time.
Our current containers are small, easy-to-handle, 33-gallon trashcans. We normally put out about one-and-a-half cans of trash a week.
The new trashcans are huge. The 95-gallon size is three times as big as our old containers. And instead of just one or two trashcans, there will be three of them. This is a change that will take some getting used to.
We understand the need for three containers. One will be for recyclable materials, one will be for green waste and one will be for real trash. By pre-sorting our own trash, we will make it easier for more material to be recycled.
With the current system, recyclables are often contaminated with liquids, garbage, dirty diapers, pet waste, you name it. The new system will result in less material going to landfills and more material being recycled. We're all in favor of that.
We're familiar with the need to separate trash in the home because we've recycled our own aluminum and plastic bottles for years. Sometimes we turn our recyclables in for redemption ourselves, and sometimes we take them to the Bolsa Chica Conservancy, where the Orange County Conservation Corps takes in recyclable aluminum and plastic. The revenue is what allows the crew of Corps kids to work at the Bolsa Chica at no cost to environmental groups, so we encourage you all to donate your cans and plastic beverage containers to the conservancy.
