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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JULY 24, 2018
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
JIM VAN NOSTRAND
Editor
Founded in 1873
JEREMY FELDMAN
Circulation Manager
DEBRA BLOOM
Business Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN
Production Manager
CARL EARL
Systems Manager
OUR VIEW
Wishful thinking hurts recycling efforts
W
hen it comes to recycling,
Oregonians have been fooling
themselves for years.
We’ve been placing all sorts of items
in curbside recycling bins, assuming that
was appropriate because, well, it seems
as if they should be recyclable — gar-
den hoses, diapers, pots and pans, plastic
bags, wire hangers, clamshell food con-
tainers … even bowling balls.
However, such “wishful recycling”
undermined the recycling process by
gumming up the sorting machines and
creating more work for crews, who had
to get rid of the items. Meanwhile, some
non-recyclables still made it through the
recycling stream, ending up in bales of
cardboard, paper or sorted plastics.
That contamination no longer is
acceptable to the world’s largest market
for recycling paper and plastics: China.
As of this year, China is rejecting
imports of sorted paper and post-con-
sumer plastics that exceed 0.5 percent
contamination. That’s almost impossi-
ble for most countries to meet. Despite
Oregonians’ passion for recycling, their
“wishful recycling” has resulted in a
contamination rate that averages from
8 percent to 13 percent, according to
the state Department of Environmental
Quality.
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
A recycling bin full of glass products sits among several for public use at the Astoria
Transfer Station.
The DEQ said that with the Chinese
market now closed, more than 10,000
tons of comingled materials have wound
up in Oregon landfills this year.
That is less than 2 percent of all
material collected for recycling. Still,
Oregonians have to change their ways.
Some counties, particularly in
Southern Oregon, have gone as far as
temporarily stopping curbside recycling
and then relaunching it only for recycla-
ble materials that have a solid market.
Other jurisdictions are looking at raising
collection fees because they must pay
companies to accept certain recyclables.
Plastic is a prime concern because
different plastics must be recycled dif-
ferently — if there even is a market for
them. For example, plastic bags are recy-
clable, but not in curbside bins because
they snarl the sorting machinery.
So what can we do?
• Pay attention to packaging and lifes-
pan when making purchases. Strive
to reuse whenever possible, instead of
discarding.
• Carry our own containers for water,
coffee and other beverages instead of
using disposable cups.
• Learn which materials can be recy-
cled at curbside. Instead of assuming
something is recyclable, we need to be
realistic.
• Remember that some items can be
taken to recycling depots, just not put
out for the comingled curbside recycling.
These include plastic bags, shredded
paper and certain metals.
• Make sure all recyclables, whether
put on the curb or taken to a depot, are
clean. For example, shredded paper
taken to a recycling depot should not
include shredded plastic credit cards.
Neither should food scraps be put in
with recycling.
Meanwhile, as individuals and as
organizations, we must do all we can to
encourage expansion of local, regional
and U.S. markets for recycled materi-
als. That is a long-term process but ulti-
mately a better solution than relying on
other countries.
LETTERS WELCOME
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Walmart traffic
shouldn’t be a surprise
L
et me get this straight. After years of
opposition and meetings, zoning issues,
and who knows what hurdles, one of the
world’s largest retail chain box stores locates
to Warrenton, and within months traffic-caus-
ing issues near the new Walmart come as a
surprise (“Traffic causing issues near new
Walmart in Warrenton,” The Daily Astorian,
July 18)?
Now representatives of the county, city,
and state Department of Transportation, and
law enforcement will meet to discuss issues
and brainstorm solutions? Referring to there
always being “minor problems, and once
you increase the traffic, those minor prob-
lems become major problems” — thank you
for your insight, Cameron Moore, county
manager.
I am no rocket scientist but, are you kid-
ding me? Was there no brainstorming on the
obvious popular concern prior to now? He
also states “these are typically good problems
to have. When you experience some growth,
you have to figure out how to deal with it.” It
should have and could have been figured out
as part of the entire planning process, long
before the doors opened.
This isn’t the first Walmart. These issues
are not a surprise. They have been brought up
over and over by community members. So
we will have more meetings, more commit-
tees, and more taxpayers money spent. Let’s
not act like this is an unexpected problem, it is
not. It’s one of many problems to change our
community in the near future, thanks to the
Walmart store.
I, for one, will never know the issue first
hand, as I will try my best to never shop at a
Walmart store.
CLAUDIA RUSSELL
Astoria
Don’t let Trump use
immigrants to divide us
R
ecent articles and letters complain about
the immigrants trying to “come to Amer-
ica,” and how they’re going about it. These
people are all, as reported, from Guatemala,
Honduras or El Salvador, if not Mexico. They
therefore already are Americans, as much as
you and I are.
In fact, their ancestors were Americans for
centuries before President Donald Trump’s
ancestors, or mine, or probably yours, ever
got the notion to get on a ship and come here,
too. Who checked their papers and “vetted”
them when they arrived? If anybody, it had to
be the ancestors of these very people.
Nations and borders are recent inventions,
and only abstractions drawn on maps. Shame
on us for letting Trump have the power to use
them to divide us.
JOSEPH WEBB
Astoria
to anyone with children in their lives over the
last two decades.
Tickets can be purchased online, and I urge
everyone to grab a seat for the limited perfor-
mances left in this season. It’s the essence of
our regional community. And, explore the fort
in the same outing for a memorable day.
GAIL GALEN
Warrenton
‘Beauty and the Beast’ is a gem
Astoria community
gives to make itself better
T
T
o everyone who doesn’t realize it yet,
we have a dynamic community theater
company that performs a summer production
every year, just across the river in a vintage
building at Fort Columbia State Park. It’s
the Peninsula Association for Performing
Artists (PAPA), and this summer’s gem is
the familiar and delightful “Beauty and the
Beast.”
I attended with my 9-year-old grandson
recently, and was amazed at the local talent,
from directing, to choreography, to acting and
singing and costuming. It’s an intimate set-
ting in which the audience feels like part of
the unfolding story. The songs are well known
hanks, Astoria, for a great weekend! The
Joy Train made its bubbly debut through
downtown Astoria. Many volunteers made her
possible. That fun melodrama “Shanghaied
in Astoria” sparkled. The new paint job at the
Astor Street Opry Company Playhouse hap-
pened because of donated paint and painters.
The Astoria High School Class of 1998 gath-
ered, remembering the friendships.
I realized even more how our community
of individuals, businesses and government
just keeps on giving to make itself better. I’m
so glad I live here.
SARA MEYER
Astoria