Unfettered Letters

Autumn yard waste

Jerry McDonald (12/27 Letters) wrote that fall mowing of leaves is a good thing and he hasn’t placed a single leaf bag at his curb in five years.

Well, Jerry, I’m glad you don’t have leaf bags. I have spiny ball bags. Seems that back in the ’70s, Kansas City decided to plant sweet gum trees throughout the city because they were fast growing and provide shade. Unfortunately the sweet gum trees drop not only their leaves but those nasty little spiny balls. They litter not only the yards, but the roadway as well.

In the cul-de-sac where I live, we rake the street and our yards. Why? Because you can’t walk barefoot in the yard, and the balls clog the sewer openings. They don’t decompose. Sometimes the city sends out a street-cleaning truck to sweep up the mess, but there is no regular schedule for this. If there were, we would surely rake them into the street and let the city clean up the mess they created.

Evelyn M. Cochran
Kansas City

Joe Virgo (12/27, Letters) doesn’t rake his yard. Aren’t you the good citizen?

I am able to get out and mow my leaves when they fall off my trees. However, being a senior citizen, when winter comes and “your leaves” blow into my yard, I can’t get out and mow them. If you would take care of your trees and leaves, even though you work 10 hours a day, then I wouldn’t have to worry about what to do in my yard.

Since you work 10 hours a day, how about hiring someone to do your yard maintenance? I’m sure your neighbors would certainly appreciate it. I certainly would appreciate my neighbors doing the same.

K.C. Gregory
Grandview

Thrift stores save money, landfill space

The Star’s article “Green execs sprout up,” (12/23, Business) did a great job reporting on organizations increasingly realizing the importance of “going green.” Chief sustainability officers will continue to play a vital role not only because it is the right thing to do, but because it can be profitable as well.

One vital avenue that was not mentioned, however, was the ultimate green opportunity to donate usable items to organizations that operate thrift stores. For instance, Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas TurnStyles thrift store receives more than 12,000 loads a year of unwanted but usable, good-quality items, while serving more than 3,000 customers per week.

Organizations, including UPS, Sprint, Embarq, Marriott Downtown, Costco, Wal-Mart, Target and LabOne, regularly provide good-quality items that are resold or given to clients in need, saving consumers millions of dollars and providing much-needed revenue to help financially support numerous charitable programs in our community.

Companies are able to reduce landfill expenses, save people money and receive recognition in the marketplace. In this tough economic period, that just makes perfect sense.

Doug Clopton
Director of in-kind donations, Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas
Overland Park

To rake or not to rake?

Jennie Sindak (12/19, Letters) wrote of her frustration with neighbors who did not rake their leaves. She raked. They didn’t. Their leaves are now her leaves all over again.

I agree with her. There is a shared price for shade if you live under the big trees. Be a good neighbor.

But be a good citizen, too. Jennie said she accumulated 34 bags of leaves. Thirty-four bags times all of the homes with leaves — that’s too much for the landfill.

Cities need to start educating everyone to mow. You mow all summer. Mow a little bit more in the fall. The cut-up leaves don’t blow away. Snow comes. They work into the lawn. Nitrogen forms. Spring comes. Grass grows again.

I live under big trees. I haven’t placed a single leaf bag at my curb in five years. I am free of that back-bending chore. You can be, too.

Please, no “mow” bags of leaves. Pun intended.

Jerry McDonald
Overland Park

Jennie Sindak complains about people not raking leaves. Guess what? I am one of them. I work 10 hours a day, and the last thing I feel like dong is going out in the cold and raking leaves.

If you want to rake your leaves, fine, rake away. But to look down on all those who don’t do so is just shallow.

Keep your nose on your side of the fence, and I will do the same.

Joe Virgo
Kansas City

It’s high time to recycle signs

Now that the election is over, will everyone who put political signs in their yards and in public places please remove them? They are an eyesore!

Please dispose of them responsibly (11/6, Local, “Now that the election is over, put those signs to good use”). Cardboard signs can be recycled, and the metal can be taken to a scrap metal drop-off at area recycling centers. Unfortunately, the plastic signs will have to go to the landfill.

Diane E. Capps
Kansas City

Make KC greener and safer

I moved here recently from a place where people recycle and vehicles share the roadways with pedestrians and bike riders successfully. We can do a lot better at both of these “green” pursuits here in Kansas City.

Regarding recycling: People should simply follow the guidelines by collapsing their cardboard boxes and by putting in the bins only what is accepted.

Regarding safer roadways for pedestrians, bike riders and vehicles: If everyone simply followed the existing laws and paid attention to their surroundings, we would all be safer. More bike paths, sidewalks and pedestrian crosswalks would be of great benefit, but only if people were to use them properly and vehicles were to respect them.

Lynne Grabar
Kansas City

Bring back bulky-item schedule

Bill Damico (9/11, Letters) is right to lament Kansas City’s change in its bulky-item pickup policy. When it was scheduled by the day of the month, I noticed that the number of bulky items at curbside had been reduced almost to nothing by the time the city’s trucks came around, because other people would take items they found useful. I call this recycling and less for the landfill.

I believe that with the new system the city will be picking up a lot more items than before. So what is the savings? I think the new system needs to be evaluated, and I hope it will be changed.

Carol Winterowd
Kansas City

Proper recycling

Most of the recycling bins put out in my neighborhood (and probably all neighborhoods) are full of non-recyclable trash items. Pizza boxes, fast food containers, cardboard milk and juice cartons, deli trays/lids, margarine containers, even planting tubs from nurseries are being placed in the bins rather than trash bags.  Non-recyclable caps are not being removed from plastic bottles. “Green” advocates say unless we remove the cap, the whole bottle will go in the landfill. If the pickup crews see glass or Styrofoam they will leave it with a note but everything else just gets dumped in their trucks.

It appears residents think all cans or anything paper, cardboard, plastic should go in the recycle bins. The guidelines need to be revisited and communicated in a simple, straightforward and consistent manner and then enforced. If a quiz were created on what should be recycled and what should be trashed, I suspect most of us would flunk the test.

Peggy Sullivan
Kansas City

Reuse or revenue?

We also use the Bannister recycling center (8/25, Letters, “Recycling center cutbacks”) and were dismayed to find out that they are no longer allowed to set out used glass Mason jars for people to pick up and reuse. Why? The same reason: It doesn’t produce revenue.

What happened to the motto reduce, reuse, recycle? I guess now it’s recycle, rebate, revenue.

Chuck Smith
Raytown

Time to get green, KC

Kansas City is cleaning up the city, trying to make it a prettier. But instead of “thinking green” and making it more of a pollution-free environment, we are creating more roads that stretch farther.

Why not take what we already have abandoned and build over it? Why don’t we spend money to reuse resources? We could easily create rain catchers or more gardens.

Adam Ungashick
Kansas City

Recycling center cutbacks

We just returned for the recycling center in south Kansas City on Hillcrest road. We were informed that we can no longer bring egg cartons to be recycled.

We were told that the mayor's office said they no longer could take them because they don't bring in any revenue to the city. We have been going to this recycling center since it opened on Bannister road in front of Kmart many years ago and thought we were recycling to help the environment.

We didn't realize the purpose of the recycling was for city revenue. How foolish of us.

With all the talk lately about plastic in our landfills, we need to recycle more. I'm sure you are proud, Mr. Mayor, for helping fill up the landfills. Way to go.

Richard and Marion Kirchner
Kansas City