I was totally discouraged when I read that Troy Barber, the supervisor at the landfill, discontinued accepting plastics for recycling.

It takes about 450 years for plastic, like water bottles, to completely degrade. This concerns many of us. We would like to do what we can to reduce waste and slow down the contamination of our planet, even if it means driving a distance to the landfill to put our plastics in the bin.

The people that make that trip want to work with the parish to keep the recycling working and even help it grow. Educating them and the general public to the fact that only certain plastics can be accepted — those marked with the symbol of a 1 or 2 in a triangle — could correct the situation.

This could be done in this way — as a person drives to the receiving booth, the operator could hand out a flyer that simply explains the rules and he or she could alert the driver to the current problem. This could take less than a minute.

Reaching out to the general public by way of the newspapers, radio, and the Mt. Hermon website could not only correct the situation but encourage more citizens to make use of the service. Let’s not take a step backwards! Washington Parish can do better!

Lorraine Bourn

Bogalusa