Letter to the Editor, 03.05.10
April 10th 2010 11:56 am
This letter to the editor of the Topeka Capital-Journal was prompted by discussion on whether the city of Topeka should offer recycling pick-up.
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It is appalling at any time to see government competing with private business, but even more so when small businesses are struggling and many people are out of work.
I have been a customer of a private recycling business for years, and could not be happier with the service they provide. They pick up my recyclables at the curb once a month, provide me a nice container, call me the night before each pick-up to remind me to put my things out there — all for less than the city proposes to charge for less service.
One of the reasons our taxes keep going up is because we expect more and more services from government — services which we should be providing for ourselves or hiring private businesses to provide.
If you don’t want to take your recyclables to one of the collection sites, I urge you to look in the yellow pages under “Recycling Centers and Services.” There are only a handful in Topeka, and it won’t take long to find one that will come to your house. If enough of us support them, they’ll be able to stay in business. Maybe they’ll even be able to expand and add a few jobs for our neighbors.