Recycling in Rockingham County

Rockingham County is working with Waste Management Inc. to implement a pilot recycling program in the Bethany area. The program begins in November.
We’ll say this: It’s about time.
There’s a catch, of course, as people will be charged an extra $2.50 per month to take part. The county says Waste Management will provide a separate 64-gallon recycling container to collect steel and aluminum cans, plastic and glass—bottles, jars and jugs—mixed paper and newspaper. The container will be collected twice each month.
In a news release, the county says participation is crucial to deciding if and when countywide curbside recycling would be offered. So far, the county says, the response has been positive, which could lead the county to begin collecting recyclable material on additional routes.
The Web site recycling-revolution.com says a typical family consumes 182 gallons of soda, 29 gallons of juice, 104 gallons of milk and 26 gallons of bottled water a year. To produce each week’s Sunday newspapers, 500,000 trees must be cut down, and recycling a single run of the Sunday New York Times would save 75,000 trees.
A family of four, especially those that include young children, can fill a standard kitchen trash can several times each week with—and let’s be honest, here – too many items that are over-packaged and over-marketed. By separating items to be recycled, consumers will probably be surprised by what trash can be diverted from landfills and designated for reuse.
Many communities in North Carolina, such as Greensboro, have had recycling programs in place for years, and we’re confident in saying that people welcome the option, even if they have to pay a little more. The county has done well in caring for the environment, and exploring the use of methane from the landfill and designing a LEED-certified courthouse are but two examples. We urge people to embrace the recycling effort, and we ask that the county accelerate the program so that it soon reaches all county residents.