To Sustain

Sustainability is a word that's been thrown about lately and many cities are making a definite attempt to sustain! Some thinks that this means they will get curb side recycling, hopefully paid for by the city, because it is really hard to pack everything up and take it to the drop off site: they can then go to bed at night with a clear conscience that they have made their attempt to sustain....to address the planet that's in stress. Who would have ever thought that this large planet of ours and these deep oceans could ever be stressed to the point that they can not recover....!
In the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development report of 1987, they define sustainability as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". This is a very good description of it.

Recycling
Lewis Bumpus, County Solid Waste Director, has always said that recycling is the last thing we should consider in the way we 'treat' our 'products'. We should first ask ourselves 'do we need this product?' Can we buy less? Can we buy smarter: (goods with less or no packaging. goods that can be reused; goods that once reached their useful lifespan will not be disposed of in a landfill)? Instead of 'getting rid' of a product can we reuse it? And the last resort is to consider recycling it or disposing of it as trash or Class A waste that is put in a landfill.