Join Waukesha resident Brien Lee and his blog, Sir Fido, as they explore the city and report on the interesting things they find.
You can't squeeze environmental awareness into one day so, around here, Earth Day stretches between two weekends and probably more. There's the canoeing today with the county park people and lots of stuff during the week and next weekend at Retzer Nature Center. Also, I can't fail to mention what Waukesha County citizens do for the earth every day, or at least should. Recycle.
The weather was beautiful Saturday and there were at least three things I wanted to do; Les Paul look-alike judging at the Waukesha County Museum at 9:00; open house at the Waukesha County Recycling Facility at 10:00; and the Pewaukee Area Arts Council's Showcase of Art at Steinhafels at 11:00, so I rode my bicycle.
I would encourage everyone to tour the recycling facility on Prairie Ave. if they have the chance. Our tour group was eager to learn all we could. We were told everything about recycling, from tipping the truckload of commingled bottles, cans and paper to seeing finished products made of recycled material. One interesting fact I learned is that iron ore is such a limited resource that all the steel products we see today contains at least a bit of recycled.
Paper or plastic? I'm not picky when asked that question at Pick 'N Save so I have a little fun and say "whatever makes you happy," or "whichever is more environmentally friendly," I reuse both type bags at my home. When the bagger chooses it's almost always plastic. Plastic is cheaper to produce and transport and a lot easier to carry groceries in, especially when it's wet out, but it doesn't break down easily in nature and it's made from petroleum. Paper is made using petroleum but it doesn't cause a problem with the machines at the recycling plant and it breaks down in the weather. Paper or plastic? As long as both are offered, there's still a place for both, but don't add plastic bags with your other recyclables, it just causes problems.
Waukesha County's Materials Recycling Facility is profitable. I just read in yesterday's Freeman that this year the participating communities will get back $725,000 for the waste that would have gone to a landfill if we didn't have the facility. I got 75 cents a pound for my aluminum cans the last time I turned them in myself. The recycling facility sometimes gets up to 90 cents a pound for aluminum. And it really doesn't take many cans to make a pound, maybe fifteen or so.
