Suggestions offered to help reduce waste
Prevention may be key to dealing with refuse
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” While this statement was made by Benjamin Franklin in reference to a fire safety issue and is often used in reference to health issues, it may well sum up the approach Stigler residents should adopt as the town deals with increasing amounts of refuse. The city has seen an increase in refuse of approximately 25 percent in the past three years, according to Bobby Mouser, city manager. “We have too much trash. It’s terrible,” he said The growing amount of refuse and how to deal with it have been discussed at recent city council meetings, and council members on Oct. 12 approved paying off the debt owed on the city’s two trash trucks and purchasing a third truck. The city will be able to purchase the additional truck without raising refuse/trash rates, however if the amount of refuse continues to increase, the city will have to continue to find sources of revenue to pay for trucks, which must be replaced about every three years due to the amount of use. That could lead to increased refuse/trash rates, explained Mouser. Discussions regarding the city’s increased amounts of refuse have included the possibility of a recycling program, which also would require additional funds. Reducing Stigler’s refuse could be the best solution for now, according to council member Rebecca Bumpers who is providing recommendations which can help Stigler residents reduce the amount of refuse that is being generated. “There are three things we can do to eliminate large volumes of trash,” she explained, adding that her family practices all three and their household waste has been reduced dramatically. Bumpers recommends using the following: Reusable water bottles and straws. “This one is huge and our city water is really good. I have one for my morning coffee as well.” Reusable storage containers. “I might, and I mean might, purchase one small box of [resealable] bags in a year. I have not purchased cellophane wrap in years. I don’t purchase paper or plastic plates or forks, even when I have big gatherings at my house. I have a dishwasher, so I can just wash the real stuff in it.” Recycled shopping bags. “The one pictured is made by Wal-Mart from recycled materials. I carry various sizes of these in my car so that anytime I’m shopping I can pull one out and carry it into the store. I almost never, ever get a plastic bag.” “It’s not easy to get started because you have to retrain yourself and create new habits,” she explained, adding that the impact on Stigler could be significant. Publisher’s Note: The Stigler News-Sentinel plans to publish more suggestions regarding ways to eliminate the volumes of trash being generated. Have ideas to share? Send them to publishing@stiglernews.com.
By Anita Reding, staff reporter
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Reduce trash by unsubscribing to offers
“I believe a major step in reducing our waste is to ‘refuse’,” Bumpers told the Stigler News-Sentinel. “We can refuse to use plastic bags or to accept the plastic straw from the waitress, but what about junk mail?” “I’m beginning to combat this barrage of wasted paper, which I will never even peruse, by unsubscribing to it all,” she explained. She is unsubscribing to unwanted catalogs “by visiting Catalogchoice.org, a handy website that I discovered recently. All you have to do is create a user name and password and let the battle begin. About once a week, I log in with my pile of unwanted catalogs and unsubscribe,” she explained. “As for credit card offers, there’s an option for those as well. www.optoutprescreen.com,” she added. “Since I’ve opted out, I haven’t received any prescreen offers from major credit card companies. I call that a small victory.” In the grand scheme of things, we don’t really need catalogs or credit card offers. Each of the companies featured in the (related) picture send me weekly and sometimes daily email ads so I am confident I’m not missing out on the next big sale. If I decide I’m in need of a new credit card, all I have to do is search for credit cards, and in a few clicks I’ve applied. There are so many electronic avenues, why waste paper?”
By Anita Reding, staff reporter
Publisher's Note: The above stories are two in a series focused on finding ways to reduce waste. Another related story is in this week's paper. In print and online.