The Cadillac Of Recycling Programs

I was thinking a bit about recycling after I wrote about my bottled water guilt.

Of all the places I've lived, visited, or seen, the best recycling program was in Santa Ana, CA. Each home receives 3 large color-coded trash cans (or as my neighbor from Britain called them, litter bins). One is for yard waste...grass, leaves, etc. One is for recyclables...newspapers, and everything that has a recycle emblem on it such as juice jugs, detergent bottles, etc. The last bin is for everything else. Each week, three different garbage trucks come around and collected the refuse from their respective colored cans.

For those so inclined, there is a return fee on bottles (not water bottles, though) and cans so people are encouraged to be more recycle conscious and keep trash off the streets. In New York, bottles and cans are returned to the store where they are purchased. In California, you bring them to recycling centers located in various parking lots around town.

The process is easy, clean, and efficient. Other cities would be smart to set up a similar program.
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