By Bradley Kennington
When this life comes to an end, most people hope to leave behind a legacy of good memories, healthy impressions upon others and a whole lot of trash.
Trash?
The average American''s legacy, more than anything else, may be an enormous pile of 90,000 pounds of dirty, smelly garbage thrown out throughout his or her life, according to the Web page, Recycleit.com.
'I knew I threw a lot away, but I had never thought of how it just piles up. That''s a lot of trash,' said Caleb Bailey, a junior from Alpine, studying Russian.
A never-ending cycle of topping off one landfill with heaping mountains of trash to move on to mounding it upon another is plaguing America. But Provo, along with six other cities in the South Utah Valley Solid Waste District, joined the fight to lower this amount of garbage through recycling.
Provo''s recycling program originated in the early ''90s, but was limited to yard waste at that time, said Scott Peppler, Provo public service manager. A new area, added to the program in August 2003, now gives people the option to recycle not only yard waste, but papers, plastics and metals.
Provo is the only city in the South Utah Valley Solid Waste District which is contracted with Waste Management to pick up recyclables from people''s homes, Peppler said. But this service doesn''t come without a cost.
When people sign up for the recycling program, they will receive a 90-gallon can that is emptied bi-weekly with the normal trash pickup for $5 per month.
Many are concerned that $5 for a yard waste recycling can and $5 for a paper, plastic and metal recycling can in addition to the regular residential trash pick-up charge is too much money.
'The price would be cut in half if we got the whole city in it ,' Peppler said. 'We don''t even have 10 percent of our population who subscribes.'
While the number of subscribers increases, Provo is offering a discount of $1 per can, under a new program called the 'triple play,' to anyone who signs up for all three cans (regular garbage can, yard waste can and paper, plastic and metals can).
'That''s good that Provo is taking the initiative to help pay for the costs,' Bailey said. 'I think its worth the money to save natural resources.'
Currently, about 1,650 people are participating in the program to recycle paper, plastic and metal.
'I can''t say I am totally displeased, but I was hoping that we would be at the 3,000 level by now,' Peppler said.
If they reached the 3,000 level, which is small percent of Provo''s population, the price of the recycling service would drop by a dollar, he said.
Tom Hutchison, district manager for Waste Management, said the program would flow better if more people were involved.
'It''s a good program, it''s an easy program and very convenient for residents to participate,' he said. 'We just need to get the word out - I think more people will participate as they become aware that the program is here.'