Recycling Deschutes County leaders have shown their complete lack of environmental responsibility when they recently announced that they would be shutting down the West Bend – Simpson Road recycling depot on July 31st due to revenue/funding shortfalls.
Hundreds of west Bend residents who recycle and used the nearby depot will now have to make a 14-mile roundtrip to the Knott Landfill on 27th Street. I am sure they will all be purchasing carbon offsets to cover the fuel/carbon footprint for this adverse county action. This ludicrous government decision (can cancelling high school football be far behind?) is from the same Deschutes County that “found the funding” to consider opening an onsite health clinic for county employees and is spending heavily on upgrades to roundabouts that are only a few years old.
Coupled with the Deschutes National Forest (I know it is a different government branch) opting to spend $1 million for an unwanted 1,500 square foot Welcome Center, it sure gives you confidence in the ineptitude of our government officials!
Do you think I will see a reduction in my property taxes since I (and not the county) will now be incurring the recycling transportation costs to the Knott Landfill?
– Bruce Dechert, Bend
This article appears in Jul 8-14, 2010.
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I won’t lie, this is the first that I’ve heard of the West side recycling center closing down. I just moved to Bend in January and I actually get a kick out of saving up my recyclable goods and taking them to the Recycling center on Simpson once or twice a month. I really appreciate it being there and it is hard to see something so small but helpful being pushed aside.
Yeah, I could just suck it up and make the trip over to the east side but I’d almost rather figure out a way to start up a donation box and for all the users of the west side recycling center. If they just donated a few dollars every time they used it could that money be used to keep the recycling center on Simpson open? I realize it probably costs a lot more then what people can afford to donate, but…do we pay money for gas individually to take it out to the east side? Or do we pay the city money to keep it open?
OR! We could somehow find someone in the community that has a truck that would be willing to pick up a couple of loads of recycling every month and take it over to the east side. All donations could go towards their gas and time.
I feel like there are a lot of ways to get around this issue if as a community we all put our heads together.
-Megan