Going green
My newspaper column
Every other week, I gather the newspapers at home, slide them into a brown grocery bag and drop them in the recycling bin.
Thousands of you do the same. In fact, 9,493 tons of newsprint were processed through the city of Greensboro’s recycling center in 2007. While the News & Record didn’t make up the total tonnage, my guess is that we had the lion’s share.
That's good, too. Recycling is not only an easy habit to acquire, it is civically important.
There once was a time that environmental activism earned you the name "tree hugger," which was often used derisively.
No longer. More and more people are interested in "going green" and "reducing their carbon footprint." Readers often call us to ask about our "eco-friendly" practices. Our goal is always to be a socially responsible citizen.
Just as you toss your papers, cans and bottles into the brown recycling can, we recycle as many of our manufacturing materials as we can. For instance:
* About 45 percent of our newsprint comes from recycled paper.
* Our color inks are soy-based, not petroleum.
* The plastic bags that keep your paper dry are made of recycled plastic. Once inside your home, the bags can be used for all sorts of things. I have filled them with ice to wrap a sore ankle. I also use them to pick up after our dog.
* The plastic tubes which hold your paper on some of our rural routes are made of recycled material.
* Our aluminum printing plates are recycled.
* Other items used within the newspaper -- plastic straps, plastic wrap, cardboard, office paper, pallets and metals -- are recycled.
Even the drink cans and bottles sold in vending machines inside the building are recycled. I'm certain about this: I have been chastised by a co-worker for absent-mindedly tossing a plastic bottle in the wrong bin.
We read our own newspaper. We know that Greensboro garbage is trucked 70 miles south to a landfill in Montgomery County at a cost to taxpayers of several million dollars.
Sending less trash to the landfill is not only better for the environment, it also improves the city’s bottom line. That is a savings every taxpayer should take advantage of.