Recycling Woes

Good Morning!  You know, I really like my blog to always have positive posts, but today I don't have anything to say that I can even slightly turn into a positive response to what is going on in my beautiful state of Colorado.  As you know by now, recycling is a huge part of my life; to a certain extent it is even part of my identity.  I woke up the other morning to this picture, I couldn't think of a better way to describe how I am feeling about recycling at this point in time (crushed and blown off!), my entire driveway looked like this.
You see, for over a year now I have become quite passionate about recycling and the benefits it can have for our community, state, and country (let alone the rest of the world)!  I started recycling programs at each of the kids' schools (which means I cover the entire school district) and my kids are very proud, even my sixteen year old son.  I can't do too much to impress a 16 year old, but I know this program means a lot to all of the kids; my spare sons even talk about how cool it is that I'm in charge of recycling their stuff and tease me that they didn't recycle that day at lunch.  Little Schmucks!!!

Although I have made some dear friends (Thanks Tiffany!), this has pretty much been a thankless job (the teacher at the high school has never once thanked me-how rude!), it is something that I truly believe can make a difference, and really it has.  It has really been a pain in the butt; with the wildlife and wind, but because it is something I truly believe in it has been a labor of love.
The problem that I am currently facing is that all of my drop off locations have been removed.  The few locations that are left are very far away and are very picky as to what they take, and all items have to be separated.  Well, there is no way to get students to separate their recycling; it just isn't feasible.  I called the Shriner's, who are the great group that has provided my oh so convenient dumpsters right by the Costco that I have to go to every now and then anyway.  They told me that Waste Management is removing the dumpsters due to costs.
We had a drop off site at our local Safeway for awhile, and it got shut down because people were abusing the privilege and throwing their trash in the recycling dumpster.  I am almost at a loss for words, almost.  People know what kind of trouble our environment is in, but make it impossible for us to do anything about it.  I really can not fathom going back to my old ways and throwing stuff in the trash, it goes against every grain in my body.
So, I am not only going to sit around complaining about it.  I have friends in high places in two of the local trash services that I am going to talk with to see what the problem really is.  My top is going to blow if it is simply a matter of money or politics!  I will let you know what I find out, but for those of you who have a neighborhood that provides recycling, thank your lucky stars!
I need to go make a miracle today!