Recycling should begin at home

In the opinion piece “Plastic pollution kills creatures on land, sea,” published on March 24, it stated that “if recycling is going to work, we must commit to using recycled plastic and design for recyclability in the first place.”

I completely agree with that statement. However, there is one thing I wish to add. While it is important for companies to be using plastic that is recycled, it is also important to make sure recycling is available to many people. I am not referring to Third World countries and places with bigger problems than where they put their plastic, although that does contribute to plastic in the ecosystems.

I am referring to right here, in the Spokane area. My house, along with all of the others in the general vicinity, do not receive any recycling pick-up service. For many families, this means that nearly all plastic packaging is thrown away. Sometimes, that plastic can get out into the environment before it reaches the dump, when the wind blows it out of garbage cans or other places where it sits around.

Perhaps plastic manufacturers would be more open to reuse of their product if they had access to as much plastic as possible. To have a larger volume of recycled plastic, you need to cover more ground with a recycling program. In short, you need to ensure that all of Spokane and its surrounding areas have recycling pickup at their homes.

Noel Gunther

Deer Park