I have not been getting along with the publishing software, so here’s a reposting of the plan until I can get a permanent page published. It was great to meet everyone yesterday! Thanks go to Greg Kline for volunteering to help out!
I’ll start with a confession: I love my pickup. It’s not new, and it was a very basic model, but it fits me: It feels like that recliner in my grandfather’s den, where he sits and watches nature documentaries, reads, and naps.
Even with a V6, though, it doesn’t get great gas mileage. At twenty miles per gallon, it’s significantly less efficient than my compact sedan, which gets at least 30 miles per gallon. The difference hurts, too, and not just my pocketbook.
Along with being an advocate for renewable energy and alternative transportation, I’ve been a dedicated recycler for more than ten years now. I’d love to see more of my neighbors recycle, but we haven’t had a curbside recycling program in town for a few years, and the city’s nearest recycling center is a five mile round trip.
So, to my neighbors in the Procter neighborhood, I have a proposition: Set your recycling at the curb, and I’ll pick it up each Saturday around 10:00 AM. I will take it to the drop-off depot on a weekly basis along with my own. (So far, that seems to have struck the best balance of convenience and feasibility.)
While it doesn’t make my own travel any less expensive, it’s more fuel efficient in the aggregate: If even one other person joins in, my one trip at 20 mpg (.25 gallons for five miles) is more efficient than two average cars traveling that round trip at 30 mpg (.32 gallons for a sum of ten miles). (Okay, so I’ll have to get a lot more of you to join in before I beat the Toyota Prius across the street, but I have faith in you!)
Please be mindful of the City’s recycling requirements. If it’s recyclable, I’ll take it. To start, I won’t even ask you to separate it!
So what do you say, neighbor? Are you in? Leave a comment, or e-mail me.
