recycling troubles in vermilion parish [link friday, 5.10]

Much of Lafayette's recycling is managed by The Recycling Foundation, based out of Baton Rouge. In March, The Recycling Foundation's facility was heavily damaged in a fire. Unfortunately, when you've got a building full of cardboard, fires can get very out of control. Read KATC's coverage of the fire below:


And unfortunately, even as it comes up on two months since the fire, the effects are still being felt. The Recycling Foundation is still not operating at full capacity and cannot accept Vermilion Parish's recyclables on top of what it accepts from the City of Lafayette. That led to The Vermilion Parish Police Jury announcing this week that it would suspend recycling service. The parish government does not have space to hold the recyclables itself, so everything must be thrown out with the garbage collection. The lack of recycling collection is expected to last one to two months.

And if you enjoy newswriting errors like I do, I will share with you my favorite excerpt from that article:
Police Jury President Nathan Granger says the parish government does not have the space to store recyclables, so residents will have to be thrown away with regular garbage.
Makes you feel bad for the residents of Abbeville and Vermilion Parish, huh?

So, another setback in the recycling initiatives here in South Louisiana. It's a shame to think about the amount of potential recyclables that will instead be sent to the landfill. 

It's times like these that the need for conservation should be a priority. Create less waste in the first place, and you will still help to fight the amount of waste going to a landfill. Don't buy something with excess packaging; don't buy something you don't really need; reuse what you can; compost if you can. There are other options besides tossing it into a recycling bin or trash can.

How are you going to create less waste this weekend?


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