Eureka!!!

Eureka to Ely

Fun fact: Eureka is a town in 14 different US states.  It is Greek for "I have found it!"

In Eureka (county population 1,900), Nevada, I found a waste collection program that was similar to Austin’s.  Eureka is too far from any major recycling facility to have a recycling program, and they don’t have a compost program either for the same reason.  They do, however, have a landfill where all of the county’s garbage ends up.  All of the people I spoke with in town threw away their organic waste.  I thought it was interesting how close to town the landfill was; it was only two miles from the main road.  I drove out to it, but I didn’t find anything super interesting.  Linda, a Best Western receptionist, told me that she thought there must be people composting in town since parts of it were agricultural, but she didn’t know anybody personally.  When I asked her what she did with food scraps, she replied, “I throw them away.”  So far the biggest compost trend I’m witnessing is that small towns don’t compost.  

Perhaps if I could track down some farmers who compost, I’d have a bit more material to work with.  I think I’ll start inquiring more about recycling programs in small towns, since so far the recycling programs (or lack there of) have been interesting.  I’m also curious to see where people have the option to recycle, and the motivations for implementing programs.  A lot of recycling’s feasibility has to do with location and cost, and I wonder what towns have taken the initiative to implement programs, who is in charge of the program, and the city residents’ reactions to recycling.