By AMY RILEY
One Citizen's Perspective

In honor of Earth Day, which is Saturday, April 22, I am taking this opportunity to share some opinions and inspirations shared with me recently in a round table discussion involving sixth grade students in Mrs. Cathy Hubble's science class at Booth Middle School. We gathered after school one afternoon to discuss recycling, following a unit in which students studied a variety of eco-friendly issues, such as alternative fuels, habitat preservation, and conservation. As the future torch bearers of environmental accountability, this is some of what these 12-year-olds had to say about their legacy.

The first topic students raised was clear cutting for construction.

Laurel Thompson pointed out that asthma rates are increasing among children in metropolitan areas. Much of this is attributed to dome effects in which exhaust pollutants are trapped and create layers of smog which hover above our cities. More people, more pollution, less trees, less oxygen.

Aaron Steinburg suggested that car companies should make a priority of testing and marketing “alternative fuel sources.” The students discussed the virtues of battery-powered transportation, and pointed out that local residents who use electric golf carts for transportation are fine examples of this concept. Erin Trapaga would like to see garbage converted to fuel. Such a concept was popularized in the movie “Back to the Future,” but somehow doesn't seem so farfetched coming from these kids.

Sebastian Lukjan points out that our biggest downfalls are our priorities. By and large, most citizens “care [more] about their money right now than the environment.” Sebastian believes that people need some incentive to conserve and recycle. He thinks that “President Clinton should spend the surplus by giving tax credits to those who conserve.” Erin Trapaga finds it “ridiculous that you should have to pay to save the environment.”

Does anybody remember collecting bottles from neighbors to wagon off to the nearest store to collect deposit money? As of 1999, ten states have enacted “bottle bills,” reestablishing refundable deposits on returned bottles, increasing recycling rates in some cases to over 85 percent, according to Waste Not Georgia (WNG) Board Chairman Bob Woodall.

I have to confess that I was an avid recycler in Gwinnett where the pickup service was free. By most accounts, local residents pay an average of $5 more per month for sanitation service if they wish to have recyclables picked up at the curb. Picking up recyclables is an expensive proposition for sanitation businesses which simply must pass along the cost as a fee in order to offer the service. I think that we are generally pretty gullible consumers, and companies could hike fees by $5 a month, include the service for “free,” and see rather dramatic increase in participation. Did I really say that?

Cassie Paggen thinks that more recycling deposit sites would encourage people to drop off their recyclables. Actually we do have fairly widespread opportunities already. Publix accepts recycled garbage bags. Some local fire stations accept aluminum cans, as well as some churches. Many of the schools have drop-off bins for newspaper and aluminum, and consider the proceeds a fund-raiser. Recycling centers take yard debris, glass, plastics, newspapers, and sometimes phone books and magazines, depending on the location and current market for materials.

Andrew Wedemyer suggests that our landfills are running over with food containers. He recommends using “reusable cups with pop-up lids” instead of drink boxes. Their teacher, Mrs. Hubble, recites the mantra, “Reduce, reuse, recycle.”

Amber Trantham reminds us to be sparing in our use of pesticides on lawns and golf courses. Heavy rains can create chemical run off, which pollutes our lakes and streams.

According to a report released by the GrassRoots Recycling Network (GRRN), entitled “Wasting and Recycling in the United States 2000,” while Americans are recycling at record rates, we are producing waste at record rates, too. The trend towards plastics is troublesome because the “cost of recycling the containers is often more than what companies pay... for [new] plastic.”

According to Pat Franklin, Executive Director of the Container Recycling Institute in Arlington, Va., in a report released to commemorate Earth Day last year, over “750 billion aluminum beverage cans have been landfilled since the first Earth Day” in 1970. Pretty staggering, isn't it?

I'm guilty on virtually all fronts, much to my own regret. I vow to be a better steward of the earth's resources in the future. I could say “out of the mouths of babes,” but I would profoundly offend my aspiring young interviewees, who after all are the earth's future.

[Your comments are welcome at ARileyFreePress@aol.com.]

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