Mike, we didn’t have trash pickup I Litchfield either. What we had was a great recycling building where people could put items they no longer wanted or that needed some repair for people that might be willing to do a bit of repair. There were tables with sections for exercise equipment, vacuums, sports equipment, audio equipment, etc. etc. I’ve personally gotten a number of items from there. Eventually things like old TVs would accumulate and then there’d usually be enough to attract a recycling firm. There are companies that tear down and recycle electronics, but for them to make a bid requires significant volume to make it worthwhile.
TT, it’s true that personal responsibility is necessary, but regulations that create barriers to doing the right thing are also a part of the problem. I think it’s unrealistic to pretend it isn’t. It’s bad enough that some people simply don’t care. Making life difficult for people that try to care makes the problem worse.
For that gasoline, a possibility is to add a much smaller portion to your car’s fuel each time you refill your tank. I’m thinking of something like a half cup each time.
I don’t understand what the big deal is. One nearby town where I used to work has a hazardous waste disposal site. You just drive up under the canopy, unload your batteries or electronics, or whatever you’re getting rid of, and drive off. You don’t even have to prove you live in the town. Actually, for all I know, it might be a county facility. Yes, it’s about 30 miles away, so I combine trips and dispose of my old batteries whenever I am in that area. Before I knew about that site, I used to take my old batteries to work and put them with the rest of the hazardous waste to be hauled off.
One thing I’ll never understand is how Broward County can sell its recyclable waste and turn a profit, while other places either pay to recycle or charge a fee. If your recycling program doesn’t generate revenue, you’re doing it wrong.
“TT, it’s true that personal responsibility is necessary, but regulations that create barriers to doing the right thing are also a part of the problem. I think it’s unrealistic to pretend it isn’t. It’s bad enough that some people simply don’t care. Making life difficult for people that try to care makes the problem worse.”
Read the quote and my prior post again.
It appears you are defending the position that since someone cannot afford to recycle something according to the rules, the only choice they have is to smash it on the ground and leave broken glass everywhere. What is preventing someone from finding a cardboard box, breaking the tube inside of it, taping it shut and then throwing it into the nearest dumpster other than stupidity or utter disregard for everyone and everything?
“it’s WRONG that children in my neighborhood have to play amongst broken glass”
TSM, are you really defending this as the only viable option for people who can’t afford the $20 to dispose of it according to the rules?
No TT, I am not. As a matter of fact I’m the one that originally expressed concern about these types of activities. Have a cup of tea, relax, and take the time to read my threads carefully and you’ll find that I’m against people doing this. My concern is that overregulation has reached the point where it makes disposing of refuse properly costly and difficult, and that tends to drive bad behaviors in those that are less responsible than they should be. I do not condone such behaviors. I worry that overregulation is encouraging them.
Denying that overregulation and lists of disposal fees encourages improper disposal of the things mentioned in this thread is not a solution to the problem. Denial solves nothing. Creating a regulatory environment that encourages rather than discourages proper disposal of things like those mentioned in this thread is the solution to the problem.
Denying that overregulation and lists of disposal fees encourages improper disposal of the things mentioned in this thread is not a solution to the problem. Denial solves nothing.
I understand your concerns about disposal fees - may encourage improper disposal. But as an ex member of a budget committee…I can assure you that a Landfill/Transfer Station is VERY expensive to run. Even for a town with only 10,000 people. We either tax everyone and grant full access to our transfer station, or we charge by use (which is what most towns do). How do you think the town is going to pay for this? We have to do something.
“Yes, dag, I’m horribly, terribly, brutally cheap.” LoL Great response !
I look at CHEAP differently. I never want to pay for any possible repair using old gasoline. A couple of gallons…penny wise pound…you know. Gasoline IS like food to me. If you can show me a “pig” to safely dump it into. I am on board ! But I do like the way you think; you remind me of my brother.
Your point is well made, Mike. I don’t know where the balance is or should be. I only fear that the current practices are causing an unintended consequence that worries me. I only wish we had an old-fashioned town meeting system so we residents could debate the point.
I also recognize that the facilities are being bound by federal regulations being constantly expanded to have specific regulations for every category of refuse. Perhaps that’s the true “root cause” of the problem. Perhaps incineration needs to be reconsidered rather than eliminated.
LOL, thanks Dag. I was hoping for a way to use the old gas in my lawnmower rather than bring it in to the dump. No good additives having been suggested (which actually doesn’t surprise me), I’m hoping the dump can burn it in their boiler mix. Burning it off was a good idea, but I have no way to do that safely, so that’s out.
I also recognize that the facilities are being bound by federal regulations being constantly expanded to have specific regulations for every category of refuse. Perhaps that's the true "root cause" of the problem.
I don’t think that’s a problem at all. In fact when we switched from a Landfill to transfer station…our costs dropped precipitously.
Perhaps incineration needs to be reconsidered rather than eliminated.
I was living in Goffstown when Wheelabrator tried to put a incinerator in our town. I was all for it until I started to go to the meetings. They MAY BE fine IF AND ONLY IF you burn nothing but trash. But when things like plastic milk jugs accidentally get added to the mix…the gas is extremely toxic. Wheelabrator built one in Claremont and at the time they were pushing to build one in Goffstown it had been operating for 10+ years and had yet to meet the EPA’s air quality regulations which Wheelabrator PROMISED it did easily.
Maybe the technology will be there viable some day…but it’s NOT today.
I’m not convinced we over regulation here. I for one like to breath clean air and drink clean water. There’s a salvage yard in Pelham NH which is owned by a State Rep. His yard has been leaking oil and gas into the ground water for years. Many of the homes around his Salvage yard have toxic levels of petroleum products in their wells. Our own state rep was NOT obeying the laws. Yet he somehow had the money to build himself a new 8,000 sq ft home. He got a slap on the wrist for his violation. And then took another 2 years to finally comply.
Sincere gratitude for the education. Clearly I don’t know enough about the issues with incineration.
Mike, I’m familiar with the cases you mention. Politics as usual.
I guess the whole reason I wanted to use the gas in the first place was because I have an innate nature to want to use, reuse, repair, and reuse again, and then pass the thing on when the thing is no longer needed, rather than just dispose of things. That mindset applies to the old gas too.
Dont be too hard on yourself,it was a good mental exercise.But one thing I have to mention is there are methods to incinerate materials back to thier base elements,that are much safer then merely burning things,plasma reduction seems to work well and sometimes they create about as much energy as they consume,as for the old gas you could let evaporate in a safe location(wont last long in direct sunlight) these highly touted refuse burners can work well if properly supervised(it seems JMU has one near Harrisonburg) the problem with plastic is that there is simply to much of it,I’m sure it contributes to cancer problems,but consider the Atomic Energy Commisions long turn contribution to enviromental problems.We are the problem,but we are also the solution-Kevin
TSM I think your idea of burning it in the lawnmower was good. I had forgotten that was what I actually did. I didn’t even think it would run, but it did, and it actually ran OK, much better than I expected. My lawnmower has a carburetor leak, so I only put a little gas in at a time, so as to use it all up to prevent it leaking out afterward. The key is probably to let the mower burn up what’s in the tank so that it won’t have a chance to gum up. That is, run it until it dies from fuel starvation each time you’d put the stale gas in.
For something to possibly mix with the gas, I think Gumout would be a good choice. I didn’t mix anything with my stale gas and the mower still ran good, but you could try to add the Gumout if you want to take a precaution if you try this method.
@ndemb, the only problem with that plan is that when you run it until it dies, there might still be some fuel in the carb(s). When you lose fuel pressure by running the tank dry, there can still be fuel in the system upstream of the cylinder(s).
Yep, there is a reason most cities and counties don't burn their hazardous waste anymore. Cancer pockets form around them.
@Whitey, that’s a very misleading stat, at least as applied where I live. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette did an expose about how the industrial and post-industrial communities in the river valleys suffered much higher rates of cancer and suggested it was due to airborne emissions. With a front-page photo of children playing in the shadow of a power plant, it seems pretty damning.
But, as a person who has lived upper-middle class, then moved into one of these valley communities (almost always working poor, BTW), there’s a whole different, class-based, attitude towards health. Whereas middle-class and upwards pay almost a pathological level of attention to eating whole-grain, organic, not trans fats, etc…menthol cigarettes are still the rage in (for example) New Kensington or Lower Burrell. Higher levels of obesity, more fast food eaten, and a latent, “old-school” idea that the “sweat of your brow” is what your boss paid you for, and only a fool would exercise for nothing.
Point being, in the most common case where the poor communities are the industrialized ones, there’s a whole lot of extraneous variables that you’d to wade through before you could attribute a cancer uptick to any one cause.
ndemb, it was using it in my lawnmower that confirmed that it was getting old. Trying it in another brand new engine verified my fears. It’s still possible to mix it in with good gas and use it slowly I my mower, but I was hoping one of those additives sold for restoring gasoline might actually work.
Excellent post, Kevin. When one considers little incidents like Chernobyl and Fukishima it becomes apparent that while one agency is trying to save the earth by banning incandescent lightbulbs and giving us toilets that don’t flush and shower heads that restrict out shower water, another agency is promoting the creation of enormous potential disaster sites than can kill and poison us in huge numbers for thousands of years… and waste more dangerous than all the incandescent lightbulbs that could ever be created by man. Sigh. What IS a body to do!
“well, I stocked up on bulbs…
…and drill out my shower heads”
Congratulations. You’re doing everything you can to ensure your electric and water bills are as high as possible. Keep fattening the your utility company’s pockets. I’m sure they appreciate it.
I seem to remember a valley sort of between Lehighton and Slatington PA that had I think it was a battery plant where a whole mountain side was completely devoid of any vegetation. But that was back in the 70’s I hope it has improver by now.