For living in such a beautiful area, I would think digging up large areas for landfills and wise use of natural resources would be more of a concern.
I used to live in a mountain community of about 7,000 where recyclables would have to travel 78 miles to be recycled. There were separate bins for glass, metal and paper next to the trash dumpsters in my 20 plus units complex.
It was worth it because so many people in the community participated. I have lived in seven different households since I have been in southern Utah, and none of the members recycle.
I will admit I have thrown away more trash while living in southern Utah than I think I ever have. It bothers me every time.
Harmon’s, 1189 E. 700 South, has bins outside that are not sufficient for the amount of recyclable products that come out of that store, but that is because people are not putting stuff in them.
If the community returned their recyclables from that store to those bins more often, there would either be more bins or they would be emptied more often.
On campus there are bins all over, but I’ve seen plastic pop bottles and papers in classroom trash bins when there is a recycle bin just down the hall.
Recycling can be a habit. If you want to do it, you will. I automatically think about it when I have something to recycle.
St. George, combined with the surrounding communities, has a large enough population to have a big effect on the recycling industry. Continuous effort in recycling would amount to enough recyclables to create a need in the industry. The more materials to be picked up, the more jobs it would create.
The more materials picked up, the more materials would be recreated to be sold without mining or logging. This would reduce natural resources being used for raw materials and landfills.
This is just a portion of what could be said about recycling. There are many other arguments of why to recycle. Find whatever will motivate you; It is an advantage to everyone.
