Open letter to Mayor Maryanne Kusaka, re: Junk paper recycling: We were dismayed to learn in late June that the junk mail recycling program has been discontinued. We’d been holding off on sending a letter, hoping something would change, but
Open letter to Mayor Maryanne Kusaka, re: Junk paper recycling:
We were
dismayed to learn in late June that the junk mail recycling program has been
discontinued. We’d been holding off on sending a letter, hoping something would
change, but to date it appears nothing has.
We realize there are many
funding priorities in running a county, and many of our problems are not easily
solved. But given that solid-waste disposal is such a large and pressing issue
here on Kaua’i, and that we have the solution right here with a contractor
willing and able to do the work, it seems silly that we don’t take advantage of
it.
The volume of junk mail we personally generate (and were previously
recycling) is huge. Multiplied by thousands of recyclers on our island, we now
have hundreds of thousands of pounds of stuff unnecessarily going into our
landfill. We know that Garden Island Disposal can still take office paper, but
as you probably know, that’s not even a drop in the bucket compared to paper
that qualifies as junk mail. (FYI , Garden Island Disposal recently informed me
that junk mail includes any white paper with even a little bit of colored ink
on it. That translates into almost every piece of paper we receive
daily.)
As stewards of this beautiful piece of heaven on Earth that is our
home, we have a duty and obligation to take good care of our island, and we
know you take that duty to heart. Reinstating funding for junk mail recycling
would certainly be a logical step in the right direction. Thanks for your
consideration.
TOM and PAM BROWN
Kapa’a
