In a state with a trashy reputation among the green set, changes are under way.
Charlie Wetherington couldn’t readily explain why he throws away his aluminum cans, newspapers and plastic bottles instead of recycling them.
“I guess I’m just lazy,” the South Nashville resident finally said, admitting his green recycling cart has sat in his driveway for months because remodelers put debris in it. “I’m all for recycling. I did it (through a mandatory curbside recycling program) when I was in Florida, but I guess I got out of the habit here. I’d get back into it if I knew how.”
Wetherington isn’t alone. Nearly 1 out of every 3 households where Curby, Nashville’s curbside recycling program, is available doesn’t participate.
That mystifies recycling officials, who say they’ve made it as easy, convenient and inexpensive as possible for residents to recycle. But even free carts and home pickups have yet to overcome recycling’s struggles to gain traction in the Volunteer State.
“Statewide, we still have a long ways to go,” said Larry Christley, who tracks solid waste and recycling efforts for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
Continue reading “Tennessee urged to recycle more”
