My car knows its way to the transfer station. However, the twice weekly trips down Old Turnpike Road are no longer on its agenda. This change is due to a new arrival in the parking lot of my apartment building – a bright green recycling bin as big as the trash dumpster next to it! In fact, these new containers have popped up as companions to each and every trash bin on the property. Hodges Development Corp., the owner of my complex, as well as Keystone Management Co. Inc., and MB Management made sure to purchase enough recycling bins to match the number of trash containers already in place on their properties. No token participation for these companies! I would like to applaud them for their level of commitment to the future of recycling in Concord.
These containers are among the 72 now available for use by residents of multi-family housing in the city. This group represents 25 percent of Concord's population, but previously had no recycling services. Now, most of them have access to a conveniently sited receptacle. This cannot help but increase Concord's recycling rate. Human nature dictates that the easier it is to accomplish a task, the more likely it is to get done. Though some people will make the effort to transport their recyclables to another location, many more see it as too much trouble. When disposing of recyclables is no harder than taking out the trash, participation goes up.
Numbers on the amount of recyclables collected since pay-as-you-throw started are not yet available. It's a pretty good bet, though, that there will be a noticeable increase from previous amounts. Those 72 new containers will certainly add to the totals.
