It turns out I live in one of the most backward communities in North America when it comes to recycling. I have mentioned it before that one of the things I like about living in the Keys is the way people like to live and let live. On the other hand a little community education would be no bad thing. Mainland Floridians recycle about 30 percent of the waste stream according to the paper. We recycle around seven and a half percent up from six percent a while ago. I'm doing my bit and so are many of my neighbors:
There was a front page article in Monday's Citizen about recycling in "Frisco," which is the commonly accepted abbreviation for the city of San Francisco (commonly accepted by everyone except residents of The City who hate the overly intimate abbreviation). It seems San Francisco recycles fully 70 percent of their waste and the mayor wants to increase it to 75 percent. However that doesn't seem possible to Mayor Gavin Newsom unless he requires all residents to compost. Which seems draconian even to them by their own eco standards. Change is in the air, even in the Keys. A recycle bin appeared in the police communications center a few weeks ago, for non sensitive papers (perforce we shred a lot of our paperwork) and the Citizen reported one bar bought a $5,000 bottle crusher to try to reduce their part of the mountain of empty bottles that accumulate around this thirsty town. Apparently its not cost effective to recycle bottles as bottles, but crushed glass takes up less space and can be used in other ways, I'm guessing possibly as construction material and the like. I recycle without thinking about it at home, trash on the right, recycling on the left:
And I know there are naysayers who argue that recycling is not particularly useful in the grand scheme of things. To some extent I agree, so I try to follow the rule of R's- reduce, reuse recycle and in the end the bromide is that something is better than nothing. I reuse the moisture from the air conditioner by pouring it into my rainwater collection system:
When full it amounts to just over three gallons of purified moisture (the stick is a ramp for geckos that have fallen in). I put the water into the black collection tanks under the house. When its hot and humid I can get three gallons every time I leave the house, it seems like:
The black tanks behind the Bonneville settle the rain water I pump out of the 12,000 gallon collection cistern that collects rainwater off the roof. There is a series of pumps that moves the water around:
And a series of filters on the wall of the cistern, which purify the rainwater that gets pumped into the house in lieu of aqueduct water:
Year round we use very little aqueduct water which is supposed to be a good eco thing, helping preserve the South Florida aquifer. We hang our laundry out to dry which is pretty effective in this climate especially when there is as is frequently the case, a breeze:
If all these small steps aren't saving the planet they do no harm, actually save me some money and use very little extra time. I'm pretty slack on the composting front and we are getting psyched to move into creating a small composting area outside. I'm reluctant to compost because our waster stream is already pretty tiny- we get two pick ups each week and I'm pressed to put out garbage of any kind on two out of three visits by The Man:
The composting thing fills me with anxiety because when we eventually develop a supply of fertile soil we will then have to find a way to use it and that means building a bed for planting. Which means gardening and that my friends is a pain. It always was and always will be. So I need an attitude adjustment. Gardening in my middle age will not become the chore it was in my youth and we will enjoy home grown flowers and vegetables. In the Keys no less. So composting is on my to-do list. 
In my defense I do keep the trees around the house trimmed but palm fronds are fibrous and abundant and they would take three lifetimes to compost down to soil so I put them into garbage cans for yard waste pick up on Fridays. My wife has noted I seem to enjoy the tree trimming routine and I guess it is true, being outside in the heat is much less of a chore for me than struggling with lawn mowers and out of control growth and cold wet dirt. There is hope for me yet.
And I know there are naysayers who argue that recycling is not particularly useful in the grand scheme of things. To some extent I agree, so I try to follow the rule of R's- reduce, reuse recycle and in the end the bromide is that something is better than nothing. I reuse the moisture from the air conditioner by pouring it into my rainwater collection system:When full it amounts to just over three gallons of purified moisture (the stick is a ramp for geckos that have fallen in). I put the water into the black collection tanks under the house. When its hot and humid I can get three gallons every time I leave the house, it seems like:The black tanks behind the Bonneville settle the rain water I pump out of the 12,000 gallon collection cistern that collects rainwater off the roof. There is a series of pumps that moves the water around:And a series of filters on the wall of the cistern, which purify the rainwater that gets pumped into the house in lieu of aqueduct water:Year round we use very little aqueduct water which is supposed to be a good eco thing, helping preserve the South Florida aquifer. We hang our laundry out to dry which is pretty effective in this climate especially when there is as is frequently the case, a breeze:If all these small steps aren't saving the planet they do no harm, actually save me some money and use very little extra time. I'm pretty slack on the composting front and we are getting psyched to move into creating a small composting area outside. I'm reluctant to compost because our waster stream is already pretty tiny- we get two pick ups each week and I'm pressed to put out garbage of any kind on two out of three visits by The Man:The composting thing fills me with anxiety because when we eventually develop a supply of fertile soil we will then have to find a way to use it and that means building a bed for planting. Which means gardening and that my friends is a pain. It always was and always will be. So I need an attitude adjustment. Gardening in my middle age will not become the chore it was in my youth and we will enjoy home grown flowers and vegetables. In the Keys no less. So composting is on my to-do list. In my defense I do keep the trees around the house trimmed but palm fronds are fibrous and abundant and they would take three lifetimes to compost down to soil so I put them into garbage cans for yard waste pick up on Fridays. My wife has noted I seem to enjoy the tree trimming routine and I guess it is true, being outside in the heat is much less of a chore for me than struggling with lawn mowers and out of control growth and cold wet dirt. There is hope for me yet.We have an active and comprehensive hazardous waste program at the dump (transfer station really because they collect the waste and truck it to the mainland for disposal in the ground...at vast expense) on Cudjoe Key including household hazards and used engine oil.
The City of Key West reports a modest savings of $30,000 in the trash bill annually thanks to a modest increase in the amount of stuff recycled. If nothing else one would think taxpayers would recycle to save the community some tax dollars but I have my doubts about the willingness of the stubborn down here to be led in that direction. One does what one can- to avoid the trash can!
