To the editor:

The residents of Lawrence are to be commended on the amount of recycling we do. However, let us take a closer look and ask ourselves some questions about recycling, some of which include: How much gasoline is used to drive to recycling centers? How much air pollution is caused by all of those automobiles and SUVs and trucks driving to the recycling centers? With the Wal-Mart recycling center having moved some years ago a mile further south we are using several thousand gallons of gasoline a year driving there to recycle paper and bottles.

We need road repairs from the drivers who use the roads to go to the recycling centers. Would not a curbside recycling program for the city be much more environmentally friendly than the thousands of vehicles using the roads and the gasoline to go to the recycling centers? Perhaps someone could do a research project to answer these and other questions as regards the economics of recycling.

Pat Slick,

Lawrence