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Sunday, Dec. 21, 2008 | 2 a.m.
After Wednesday’s story about an effort to increase recycling, some readers called the Sun to say the problem really boils down to laziness on the part of too many Clark County residents.
“Why can’t they recycle the way it is now?” said a man who moved here from California.
The story was about Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani’s plan to introduce an ordinance in January to bring single-bin recycling to Clark County without increasing trash fees. The county has a abysmal record on residential recycling, with a rate hovering around 2 percent.
Another caller said the commissioner is right that the separate red, white and blue bins are too small. But, he said, it’s also hard to remember which weeks recyclables are picked up, and recycling once every two weeks can mean large piles of the stuff outside your back door.
And these are just homeowners. Residents of multifamily complexes don’t even have recycling.
Don’t about half of all Clark County residents live in apartments, duplexes and the like?
Closer to one-third, according to county planners. That means roughly 257,500 households are not included in Republic Services’ recycling program.
Is the county considering any other forms of persuasion, such as fines for those who put recyclables into regular trash bins?
Though some cities do fine residents who don’t recycle, nothing of the sort is being considered here. But there is another idea that both Republic Services and Giunchigliani seem to agree upon. Bob Coyle, Republic’s area president, and Giunchigliani are talking about rewarding recyclers.
Coyle is against giving people deductions on their trash bills but likes the idea of rewarding neighborhoods with coupons for “10 percent off at Starbucks or something.” The number of coupons would be tied to the tonnage of recyclables collected. Giunchigliani suggested customers being able to donate reward savings to charity.
Will there be recycling out at Coyote Springs, whenever it gets built?
That remains to be seen, but more details are emerging about other aspects of what is to be a 43,000-acre town straddling the Clark-Lincoln county line 55 miles north of Las Vegas along U.S. 93. On Wednesday, commissioners approved a zoning change to expand the new area’s gaming overlay. The zoning change was needed to make way for a 330-room, 12-story resort that plans submitted to the county say would be finished by 2018. Developer Harvey Whittemore previously won approval to build 159,000 homes in Coyote Springs. So far a golf course has been completed, a water system is almost done and 60 percent of a sewage treatment plant is done. Whittemore said he expects the first homes to be built in late 2009 or early 2010.
What else do those plans show about the resort?
Rough estimates are that work associated with it would begin about 2013. An economic analysis completed by Applied Analysis lists construction costs at about $866 million. That would include 713,900 square feet of hotel, casino and amenities, and a 777,000-square-foot parking garage. The casino would employ about 1,800 people.
Coyote Springs is planned to consist of 11 “villages,” with the casino to be constructed after Village 4 is completed. Plans are for Village 4 to be built second, after Village 1.
The county appears confident that another remote development, Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, will never be turned into a nuclear waste dump. Is the county spending a lot of money to keep tabs on Yucca Mountain?
Every year, the Energy Department gives millions to local governments to monitor the federal government’s effort to store the nation’s most radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain. And every year, those governments sign a statement, as Clark County did last week, saying they spent the money appropriately. It can’t be spent, for instance, on lobbying or developing cross-state coalitions or for litigation.
Since 1988, but excluding two years in the mid-1990s when federal funding was cut, the Energy Department has provided 10 county governments with a total of $35.6 million. Clark County’s average annual share is from $1.6 million to $1.8 million, said Irene Navis, nuclear waste planning manager. Nye County receives the lion’s share. Its last payment was about $3 million, Navis said. Other Nevada counties that get payments are Esmeralda, Lincoln, Churchill, Lander, White Pine and Mineral. Inyo, Calif., also gets a cut.
I believe not recycling goes way beyond laziness. Throw in I don't care and it's too much of a bother and you've got your answer. Recycling at apartment complexes is not cost effective for the complex owners.
If people want to recycle and have it picked up everyweek then surely the garage company can design a program and charge a special fee to those people.
The people are surely lazy here.. They don't care about recycling and stopping global warming... It all boils down to why should we do this.. We should get what we can from everyone else and why care about recycling. Recycling is imporatnt and should be a way of life for all who live here. If Vegas would be ahead of the times instead of behind we would be flourishing with higher numbers. People don't care about recycling and saving the earth instead of what I get it out of it.
The problem out here is that the Recycling bins are too small and don't have a lid. How is it recycling if the winds blows all the paper, and plastic around? The answer is lids. You can't depend on Republic services. They don't even pick up all the trash on trash day. I live in a complex, and have seen these guys leave trash on the ground if it falls out while they are dumping the can in the truck. Lazy.
I don't know about others, but recycling is easy and takes very little time to do. It makes me feel good. Once a week pickup would be nice.
You can also recycle your plastic shopping bags at Walmart and most grocery stores now. Also Walmart is now selling plastic fabric bags made from soda bottles for $1, that you can reuse at their stores instead of disposable bags.
I would also love to have regular sized dumpsters placed at area high schools for recycling. One for paper and one for plastic, that way for those of us that fill the little bins up before the two weeks are up, we can drop off our recycling at anytime. Then I don't have to call to complain because they don't pick it up or it is scattered everywhere. I really could care less about Starbucks coupons, etc. Just give me options and better service.
Or give us larger recyling bins. Mine are full within a few days and then I have to stuff, stuff, stuff for the next week or so.
Based on the above comments and my own personal experiences, it seems that a significant number of Las Vegans want to recycle but don't. County officials should focus on making recycling accessible to us local residents through a simple and common sense program, instead of on expensive gimmicks like Starbucks gift cards. Make recycling easier -- that's all we ask.
I agree with others that like CA it would be best here to have one bin with a lid. Las Vegas so often has breezes or wind that often blow items out of our full recycle bins. I recycle more when there is calm weather (which isn't enough) so I don't have to chase down recyclables. I definitely support a change in containers which could result in a likely increase in the number of residents who would recycle more.
The problem with recycling is having the customer seperate out their tin cans, from plastic, from paper, from glass. The way we need to go is contacting our waste company and ask them if they have thought about looking into "stream line" recycling whereby all recycle items are put in one bin and then are seperated out by the waste company. There are 20 states that have associated themselves with a company called "Recycle Bank" and they reimburse costumers with gift certificates based on the weight of their recycle items on a monthly basis.
Stream Line recycling is easy where even a 'caveman' could do it.
I really try to recycle. It's not that hard and if you need more bins, Republic will give you extras. I noticed this morning that they are dumping all the bins in one container on the truck in my neighborhood, and the worker on the truck said not to get too concerned about sorting. Now if they'd just give me one big bin, things would be even easier.
It's just one step towards helping the environment. I also use my own bags for shopping, although I'm still getting used to taking the bags into stores other than groceries.
Now, if they'd only make it easier to get solar panels on my roof.
I have been calling republic for over a year for recycling bins - each time I am told they will be dropped off at my house in 4-6 weeks - They never are. I recycle anyway but it would be easier with bins!
I think that it is pretty sad that they charge you to recycle, considering that they get paid for the materials that they "recycle". It's like double dipping. The company I work for has started recycling electronics. While we do not process the materials locally, they are sorted and shipped to EPA licensed facilities around the US. Not to add a plug, but we pick up electronics for free. All you have to do is give us a call. Check out recyclinglv.com for more info.
There is a very simple solution to this. Have a single pickup for everything, then dump it at the prisons and let them sort it out. The only service contracted out would be pick-up and transportation.
Granted, this is a simplified version, but is there any real reason this wouldn't work other than it is too cost-effective to appeal to most politicians and contractors?
I do my recycling at U.N.L.V.'S Recycling Center. Simply drive by and separate your recyclables in their very large bins. Also try not to buy products that waste materials to package their goods. Go Vegan!
http://maps.unlv.edu/rrc.html