It makes absolutely no sense for this resort town to allow such mass pollution.
I am calling out the Mayor and Council in Ocean City, start recycling now. We need your leadership on this matter. Wicomico County is doing an incredible job and MAKING MONEY doing so. This helps relieve taxpayers on tax increases and it just makes sense.
29 comments:
I agree. The problem is, at least in part as OC visitors are disgusting, that the town can’t even reliably pick up all the trash cans for the buildings throughout the city on a reliable schedule. That leads to overflows and trash blowing everywhere. Quite poorly run. At the very least recycling would spread the volume out and slow the cans that aren’t being emptied from overflowing as quickly.
The circumstances are right too. There are busy bodies in the majority of these buildings who would take seriously the opportunity to enforce people recycling and participating.
recycling is needed however it's an expense and is not profitable. The Chinese stopped purchasing most recycled plastics and other than aluminum the rest is a money loser.
City Hall will say its a resourcing issue AND all trash goes to the incinerator. Blah blah blah
Lather, rinse, repeat is the mindset.
Not our problem that payroll is HIGH HIGH HIGH, causing resourcing challenges.
8:17, That's just not true at all. Wicomico County is making money on all of its recycling. While the market does go up and down on different materials, it does NOT cost money, (unless you don't know what you're doing) to rid of recycled materials.
Great idea and I would support it. Problem is the "vacationers" don't give a rats ass about O.C. The only thing they are concerned with is the week they are there. And, "we are on vacation" so it's ok to throw beer, soda cans, and trash in the canals. God forbid they rent a pontoon boat and cruise around the bay!
8:55, I think you'd be very surprised at just how many visitors would be willing to recycle if they were given the opportunity. Just think of all the beer cans and bottles each family is throwing away on a weekly basis. It's not for everyone, I get that. I happen to have 4 trash cans at my home and I take my trash to the landfill. Since I'm already going there anyway, it's no big deal for me to bring my bottles, cans and plastic and put them in the recycling before I get rid of my trash. At 56 years old, making that change and doing what is right just isn't so bad after all. If we can in fact teach our children to do the same our landfills wouldn't be filling up so quickly and costing the taxpayers millions of dollars to expand. It's a topic most people want to simply ignore because the landfill is out of sight, out of mind. We take it for granted and Ocean City creates far more trash then anywhere else, (for the most part). All I'm asking is that OC make it easier for people to do so, if they so choose. I do not believe in shoving it down every one's throat by forcing people to do it.
From Dispatch May 3 regarding Worcester county.
The county spends close to $800,000 a year on recycling. While salaries and benefits make up more than half that annual expense, other costs come in the areas of equipment, removal expenses and fuel, among others. The recycling operation brings in about $174,000 in revenue to the county each year.
https://mdcoastdispatch.com/2018/05/03/county-handle-recycling/
9:26, Just think about what you just shared. These are people who drive to Walmart in Berlin, (for the most part) who voluntarily bring their recyclable materials there. If they added more locations, like the ACME parking lot, (and others) throughout Ocean City they'd make a LOT more money and I'm sure the County would be happy to put recycling bins elsewhere. Mind you, the up front cost to purchase these bins isn't cheap but over the years that profit would go way up. What I'm suggesting/proposing is not a demand. It should be done with a "Paying It Forward" concept in mind. It's for the future of our children.
Outer Banks has no problem AND provides recycling cans as well as trash cans to all vacation residences. I know its not the "same" as OC with its mega hotels, however the mindset at one time was throw everything in the trash. Change the rules and provide the necessities, then mindsets can change.
Say it costs too much because you can't afford it - IS kicking the can down the road, something City Hall loves doing to its taxpayers!
OC used to have recycling. They stopped around 2012 because the operation was losing money.
9:56, Then they had someone running it that didn't know what they're doing. Keep in mind, this isn't about making money but let me just prove how what you are saying isn't true at all. Filling up the landfill cost taxpayers a LOT more money then losing some money with a recycling program. That just goes to show that a lot of you are simple minded and just love to disagree for the sake of disagreeing. Ask around what a new pod cost the taxpayers.
be interesting to see what most of the trash consists of....are waterfront bar and restaurant patrons disposing their trash in the bay?
I would love to see any plastic bottles under 2 liters banned as well as plastic grocery bags. Stop buying plastic!
It's hard to believe that a municipality with up to 500,000 residents, both temporary and permanent, doesn't have a robust recycling program and a smart person to run it. Americans generate an average of about four pounds of trash per day, 75% of it recyclable or compostable. For OC at peak population, that's 2,000,000 pounds per day, all of it going to the landfill, with the exception of the small but very noticeable amount that hits the streets, bay and ocean.
Failure to address this in a responsible way is a failure of administration.
I disagree that OC does a bad job at trash collection. Ours gets picked up reliably every single day. We were amazed that the cans got picked up EVERY day, compared to once a week at our home in Wicomico.
The problem with recycling is space and logistics. The trash receptacles at each property would require double the footprint and double the trucks.
Not saying it can't be done, but it's not in the budget to do so.
Believe me, there are many people who work for the town that would do cartwheels if recycling was mandated in OC.
1101 - laziness actually.
I remember many folks up in arms about the end of recycling in 2012 and were scolded like children. City Hall said, costs are too much and incineration is the way WE are going to do this, enough discussion.
Sometimes I really wonder who they "think" they work for.
Hey Rickie, its 11:11am on Monday. The sun is OUT and your inlet parking lot is 3/4's EMPTY again! Monday, middle of summer, July 23rd. Kudo's brother!
11:03, I never said OC does a bad job with picking up trash. In fact, for all the transient traffic they have it's amazing what they do to keep the town as clean as it is. You are probably right, recycling isn't in their budget. However, it would be very wise for someone/business to open a recycling business independently and make a small fortune. Like I said though, most people take trash for granted. We need to educate our kids first. Keep in mind, if we remove the majority of recyclable materials there's far more room at our landfills. You cannot just look at the simple cost of what it would take to create a recycling division. You have to look at the overall landfill expenses and why it is truly financially advantageous to do so.
The IQ drops drastically from Wicomico to Worcester counties.OC residents need to be spoken to very slowly to get a point across.Pretend you're speaking to Forrest Gump.Any truly leader will not be offended by my comment.Just be a good little dolt and recycle.
I work in OC doing repairs in rentals and have renters asking me all the time about recycling in this town. They stopped it when they started having their trash hauled away about maybe 4 yrs ago or so.
OC used to recycle when I lived there. The big problem is the vacationers. I can't tell you how many times I had to hose pee out of my bin after setting it out to be picked up.
1101- It doesn't go to a landfill. A private company comes and hauls the trash away from 65th street and burns it for energy. This is why they got rid of their recycling program.
You can expect lots of energy output from incinerating metal and glass.
As a resident of OC, I routinely recycle everything I can and take my items to the ocean pines site - sometimes it is a pain, but in the end I feel like I am responsible for doing my part. As I understand it, OC contracts trash removal out to a company in PA and that is apparently cheaper than doing so locally, however I don’t have the details as to the truth (or lack therof) of this. I would certainly welcome the opportunity to recycle closer to home but the relatively small inconvienance is well worth it when I see my children doing so and learning a valuable lesson. I have to agree with Joe on this one as I think many residents would welcome the opportunity to have an option to voluntarily do their part. As for our visitor traffic, I would like to believe that they would do so as well. Hopefully the city council and mayor will consider an option to do so.
Regards,
Paladin
I think we could save money by taking all our trash to Baltimore
Dump it on their streets
They won't see a difference man
Anonymous said...
recycling is needed however it's an expense and is not profitable. The Chinese stopped purchasing most recycled plastics and other than aluminum the rest is a money loser.
July 23, 2018 at 8:17 AM
It doesn't matter if it's expensive. Mandate it because our environment is better than that.
This is exactly why Ocean City has to stop building condo buildings after condo buildings. Ocean City can't handle the trash and pollution that the tourists are causing for this very small barrier island.
This is why Worcester County, the State of Maryland and the U.S. Government should tell Ocean City that they have to take their own trash and keep it on the barrier island. Fine and jail the city leaders if they export the trash created from the tourist they bring hear. If you created the trash in Ocean City then it's your problem Ocean City and it better not leave the Island.
Demand that they go back to recycling paper and glass like they used to. The Feds should mandate that all glass and cans will be recycled. Fine and jail those who don't comply.
Ocean City has been sending their trash to places like the County dump in Salisbury or paying someone to take it and it is carried out to to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and dumped overboard. Yes that is happening and New York City has been doing that for decades.
This is another reason to stop allowing immigration into our country because we can't handle the trash that is consumed by the millions of people already here.
Anonymous said...
Outer Banks has no problem AND provides recycling cans as well as trash cans to all vacation residences. I know its not the "same" as OC with its mega hotels, however the mindset at one time was throw everything in the trash. Change the rules and provide the necessities, then mindsets can change.
Say it costs too much because you can't afford it - IS kicking the can down the road, something City Hall loves doing to its taxpayers!
July 23, 2018 at 9:48 AM
There is one thing in your entire statement that hits me like a ton of bricks.
"mega hotels." There lies the problem with Ocean City allowing their planning and zoning to approve these mega hotels. This has got to stop because Ocean City and the environment can't handle the people or the garbage.
Joe I recently stayed at a hotel in Ocean City and one morning on the balcony we watched a large Ocean City garbage truck pull up to the dumpsters beside the sidewalk and empty them. There were close to ten dumpsters because the hotel also has a restaurant. While we were watching the arms pick up the dumpster overhead and dump it one of the dumpsters somehow missed the garbage truck and 5 of those large black 55-gallon trash bags full of trash fell out on the street. The truck drive kept maneuvering the garbage truck from dumpster to dumper and he never got out and picked up the trash. As a matter of fact, when he emptied the last dumpster he did a 3 point turn and took off towards Coastal Highway. You might ask did he see the trash bags fall to the street? Yes, he did because the rolled off down his windshield and his driverside door. He ran over those trash bags before he left causing trash to be blown everywhere and cans and bottles left behind on the street and sidewalk for tourists to walk through.
That right there is evidence that the city leaders and the employees don't care about the trash that Ocean City creates and leaves in the streets and waterways.
I had a feeling this would happen and I had my trusty camera smartphone taking pictures. Got the truck number, tag number, and face of the driver.
Anonymous Anonymous said...
OC used to have recycling. They stopped around 2012 because the operation was losing money.
July 23, 2018 at 9:56 AM
Blogger JoeAlbero said...
9:56, Then they had someone running it that didn't know what they're doing. Keep in mind, this isn't about making money but let me just prove how what you are saying isn't true at all. Filling up the landfill cost taxpayers a LOT more money then losing some money with a recycling program. That just goes to show that a lot of you are simple minded and just love to disagree for the sake of disagreeing. Ask around what a new pod cost the taxpayers.
July 23, 2018 at 10:09 AM
Actually they stopped recycling around 2010.
From an article in Ocean City Today from Feb. 2014:
"In summer 2009, the city redirected the bulk of its trash from the Worcester County landfill to Covanta Waste-to-Energy incinerators in Pennsylvania. The cost of sanitation and waste removal for the city dropped $506,000 between fiscal years 2009 and 2010.
Before the next summer, Ocean City dropped its recycling pickup and costs fell a further $888,500 for that fiscal year."
From the Town of Ocean City website:
Ocean City currently holds a contract with Covanta 4Recovery, a leader in the field of solid waste management energy from waste facilities, for trucking and repurposing of the town’s Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). Locally, residents and visitors generate roughly 34,000 tons of MSW annually. Historically, the vast majority of that waste was landfilled in Worcester County’s central landfill, but that is no longer the case.
A little research would have been real easy to clear up this issue. Took me less than 30 minutes including typing and cut and paste.
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