Editor:
There's been a lot of anger in New West over the impending closure of the local recycling depot. But something that hasn't been part of the discussion is this: why are some recyclable items picked up curbside, while others are not?
(Many) New West residents ... live in multi-family residential, with very little extra storage space. We don't have basements, sheds, garages or mudrooms in which to shove random stuff.
Furthermore, such residents are much less likely to own cars. These factors make saving "depot items" which are technically recyclable, but not picked up curbside, highly impractical. In practice, this means "depot items" frequently go to the landfill by necessity (often accompanied by guilt for landfill-directing something that is "technically" recyclable).
Perhaps "depot items" are those for which there is very little post-recycling commercial demand and so eliminating them from the curbside pickup is an intentional move to reduce supply. But in this case, we should ask whether they are worth recycling at all.
If we treat these items as disposable, we may be encouraged to make prudent consumer decisions accordingly, avoiding their use in the first place. Either way, I think the city's decision should be this: pick up "depot items" curbside, or scrap them from recycling programs altogether.
Sarah Hogarth Rossiter, New Westminster
