Tuesday, December 10, 2013

The Many Faces Of Sacramento Recycling

By Jeannie Chapman


The concept of recycling has taken on a new meaning when we look at the community involvement of Sacramento recycling projects. The city and county are part of this enormous movement and for most items they have curbside pick up for the residents. On an alternating weekly schedule along with the regular trash collection a second truck arrives to collect either green waste recyclables or plastic and paper products that are acceptable.

Citizens are not tied to the once weekly service given by the county. They can call and arrange for a special collection of larger items and it will be picked up at curb side by appointment. This service is designed to help residents dispose of old furniture, discarded doors or wooden items and tree branches. They will not take items that fall into the hazardous waste category or electrical appliances. These items must be delivered to specific locations for proper disposal.

There are commercial enterprises that pick up items not covered by the county. Some will pay for the items and one program works with social groups and neighborhoods to assist with fund raisers. These companies pay their employees to sort through the items and place them in separate locations and later deliver them to centers that will recycle them and pay the highest price for them.

Another kind of renewable resource is old furniture. Many companies collect these pieces and sell them to companies that melt the individual components down to be remolded into new usable items. Most people are unaware of this process so many of the items end up at the public dump. To avert this from happening it is recommended that consumers call one of the companies that collect junk and request a pick up. There is usually a charge for the service but you would be charged a fee to take it to the dump and it will cost you time, energy and gasoline.

Most families in the area do their own recycling when it comes to aluminum cans and plastic water bottles. These items are easily stored and transported to the neighborhood collection site. They are purchased by the pound so each station has a scale for weighing. This is one of the most popular methods of fund raising for schools and churches.

E-waste sites are some of the fastest growing enterprises in any area. E-waste includes anything electronic and at the rate of growth in the techno-logic fields it can only expand. There are many companies that will purchase used or broken electronic items.

The items in question include TVs, computers and all of the new gadgets that are portable enough to carry with you. They also include freezers and refrigerators or anything else that plugs in. The E-waste companies remove the dangerous elements in these items and then resell it to companies that will reuse or re-purpose it.

The environmental footprint of Sacramento is noticeably small compared to other cities of the same size. This is due to the diligent work of city and county operated centers as well as cooperation from the population living there. Sacramento recycling leads the field in comprehensive programs designed to improve the world we live in and help prevent the further destruction of the planet.




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