Recycling Ends Today in Ligonier - How Can This Be?

Well that's it! I'm going to use my wine bottles as fence post decorations, and the green beer bottles as Christmas decorations until the bins come back! After thirty years of recycling, I'm not sure how else to deal with this change.

The barricades being set up to close the recycling lot.

The cost of recycling has become a topic in the past year. The cost has been measured in dollars and profit - or lack of it - to the companies doing the recycling. Now that it seems to have become unprofitable, Ligonier, as well as many other communities, is left with nowhere to take its plastics, glass, metal, and even paper. As this time, it looks like a couple of farmers are taking care of some of the newspaper in their shredders, and that's it.
I wonder how the cost of larger landfills will affect us in this turn in economics? Probably it will be noticed and calculated when its too late.

I just picked up a small load of paper from the high school office today on my weekly run. It only produces one or two bags of shredded paper a week, which disappears in the stalls in a day or two, but it helps the school and it helps me. It doesn't save anyone money, but it saves a space in the landfill.

One of the seniors at the high school discovered how much paper was being thrown out, and looked for a way to recycle it. The school had the same problem as the town, in that their company stopped picking up their paper, so they were stuck. Through the Ligonier Living blog conversations, she got directed to me and the goats.

We've been doing office paper for about two months now, and I think we can make it work better, so that there is more collected to make it more worth my trip. Then I would love it if they could do some of the shredding, even if its just a bag a week. Its the time element when there gets to be a lot of paper, but a lot is what is needed. I'll have to see if we can coordinate better. Unfortunately, I can't do newspaper in my shredder, or I'd have a lot more contributions. I've been told you can use chipper/shredders for newspaper, but as of yet, I haven't made the purchase. The cost for me, greatly outweighs the need.

Goodbye to the bins...

The Loyalhanna Watershed Association, who has coordinated the town's recycling all these years and tried to keep it going, has managed to find a paper recycler, but I'm not sure of those details.

Drew Banas, Director of the LWA, at the end of clean-up. The stress is over Drew?

Meanwhile, we all can suggest ways to do our own little part. I have been using newspaper as mulch in the garden, and I know animal shelters and even the veterinarians sometimes use paper for their facilities. More simple ideas?

The Paper Factory

Mom has a new job. Or perhaps an addiction. The paper shredder.

Tuesday we got a heavier duty, recycled, paper shredder from the Loyalhanna Watershed Association, and now my mother is known as the Paper Factory. She is addicted to shredding, and has been folding, tearing, and shredding paper since we plugged it in. She is shredding everything in sight. Magazines, mail, newspaper.

She is going to set the thing on fire - I swear! It has smoked a couple times, but we think (and hope) its just the dust from the white paper. We have to takes its temperature every once in a while to make sure she gives it a rest.

So far she must have produced three or four garbage bags of the stuff. The fun hasn't worn off yet.

What does one do with all this paper you ask? Well, we use it for bedding for the goat's stalls. We get several bags from a couple places, but all of a sudden we need more. Perhaps the doubling in size of the herd?

After making a mess in the kitchen, we moved the operation out to the garage, where she can run the factory as she pleases, whenever she wants, and be outside in the sun or shade, depending on which door is open.
Its a nice sit down job for her as she waits to have hip surgery. We tell her the paper tearing is good for her upper body strength.