RECYCLING MUST BE DONE -- BY OUR GOVERNMENT


One day in 1970, picking through a wrecked-car lot looking for a tail-light fixture for my Volvo,  I had an idea then that so many things, nearly everything we use ought to be recycled or repurposed somehow.....and that if everyone did it we could save money and create less waste and more jobs.

Of course, it took decades before people smarter than I figured out how to do that,  and make it economically feasible. The CRV tax on cans and bottles was born, glass got collected, re-purchased and reprocessed. Soon after, it was paper & cardboard.  At first people resented the CRV because it was a tax , and they knew they'd probably not redeem the plastic and cans anyway.

But then things began to change, and the awareness of pollution and waste piling up helped change people's outlook and habits. Meanwhile, just about every industry has added packaging on top of packaging - mainly with non-CRV plastics - to the point where we are all inundated with useless pieces of plastic on everything we buy. There is no end to this in sight .

Meanwhile,  Planet Earth is facing another crisis. We have been recycling so well over the last decade that there is nowhere to put it all,  and it's become more costly to recycle it than to throw it in the landfills. Turns out, we consumers are separating our trash from our bottles and papers but then they are all going into the landfills anyway. Recent articles in the LA Times and carried on Spectrum TV News have alerted us to the fact that the U.S.  Recycling Industry has reached critical mass - literally. It no longer pays for them to keep collecting, sorting , bundling and transporting the recycled waste of plastics, paper goods and glass; and there are not enough ways to re-purpose it once it gets to where it's supposed to go; and if there were it has become too costly to re-purpose everything . Additionally, China has just stopped taking our plastic waste, meaning 50% of it has nowhere to go now,  except to the dump.

Furthermore, our Planet has a gigantic problem with plastic floating in the Ocean in alarming quantities. It's not just whales and dolphins consuming floating plastics that is a problem, but plastics have actually formed floating plastic islands, one of which is as large as the State of Rhode Island .  Experts warn us that the equivalent of 2 two dump-trucks per minute of plastic is going into the Ocean. This is unsustainable. Our Eco-system is already threatened by Climate Change, and now this. Like Mercury, the fish are eating the micro-plastic in the Oceans and we are eating the fish .

These problems are Society's problems. The human race created these waste products and only we as a whole can solve them. Individuals can reduce their own footprint a bit, but the footprint of a Nation is much harder to reduce. This problem is too big, and too disastrous to allow it to go unresolved because of economics of business. Saving the Planet should not be an economic decision.

Recycling to save the Planet for future generations, should not have to turn a profit. But today, the Re-Planet corporation (under contract with the Cities)  has decided to close most of its retail collection stations in California,  making it impossible for consumers to do anything but throw their recyclable plastics ( #1 & #2 ), cans and glass into the trash again. At the same time , the # 5, 6 , and unnumbered plastics were  not being recycled, but tossed into the landfills where they will take up to 1,000 years to breakdown.  Now, with nowhere to send them and no-profit in recycling them , even #1 and # 2 bottles are going in the trash. This cannot be good for Mother Earth. Meanwhile, we are still paying our 5-cent  CRV tax per bottle, but not able to redeem them. Thus, the Recycling we pay for is no longer being done.  So where are those CRV monies going now?

So - my idea now is that the State of California needs to establish a new Agency: A Recycling Department. To help pay for it we put a CRV tax on all single-purpose plastics not currently recyclable, all styrofoam cups & boxes and packing peanuts; as well as the plastics used in packing and over-packaging consumer goods. Tax the bad stuff more than 5 cents, or make the manufacturer pay the tax on things that don't break down, ever.


This new Recycling Department needs to set up local recycling centers around the State, probably apportioned by population and by County. Let the local municipalities create Recycling Depots like the ones that Waste Management is closing, but that also take batteries & styrofoam, as well as glass, metal, wood & paper. These centers should not only collect and refund consumers for their CRV tax, but also deliver the recycled goods to manufacturers that will scientifically re-purpose it all. If there's not enough profit to sell the recyclables, let companies have it for free, as long as they re-purpose it.

If there is no profit in it, so be it. If there's a loss, so be it. Saving the our rivers and oceans, the land, clean water and air do not have to turn a profit. What cannot be recycled, ought to be safely deposited by the States into remote landfills that do not needlessly impact water supplies or wildlife.


To those who say we already have enough Government, I say this: Sometimes we need Government to serve us, and take care of what individuals and businesses alone cannot do. Like the Post Office, the Police & Fire Departments, our roads and bridges, the Coast Guard and the military - we pay them to do all that work for the common good. It is not Government's job to make a profit.

It is our job to make Government work for us, and for Mother Earth. .

We need to look at worldwide pollution problems the same way, starting here in our State, and elsewhere around the Nation. Furthermore, recycling by the States will create steady, good paying jobs in a growth Industry. These jobs will start at minimum wage but scale up like any growing Industry employing thousands in new and important jobs.


Save the Planet, create jobs, re-purpose our waste, reduce our footprint. It's a Win, Win, Win !!

The ART of the DEAL  - Istanbul

ERDOGAN : Hello Mr. President. You are still President , yes ?

TRUMP : Oh yes . I am more than President, you must know. I am all-powerful NOW. With unmatched wisdom!!!

ERDOGAN : That's Good, because I want to talk to you about corruption in my Country.  You have two very nice Towers in my Country.

TRUMP : The biggest, yes. The best in the world.

ERDOGAN : Well, it would be a shame then if anything should happen to them.

TRUMP : Yes, that would be terrible for me. You wouldn't let anything like that happen, would you....Your excellency ?

ERDOGAN : But there is much corruption in my Country, and it's because of the Kurds.

So there could be a terrible accident,  of course, or maybe even an attack by the PKK. You know ?

TRUMP : You won't let that happen, will you ?

ERDOGAN : Well, I need a favor, though.

TRUMP :  A favor? What do you mean ?

ERDOGAN: I'd like you to pull your American troops out of Northern Syria where they are protecting the terrorist Kurds. Pull them out tomorrow.  

TRUMP: But then you will invade and take-over the Kurds and their cities there ?

ERDOGAN : Yes. But I won't hurt them. You have my word on that. 

TRUMP : And what about my Trump Towers in Istanbul ?

ERDOGAN :   Yes, very nice Towers you have there .........