To the editor:
I hope that the irony of the temporary closing of the Wal-Mart Recycling Center isn't lost on city leaders who have fought to prevent a supercenter in Lawrence for so long. I hope those of you who purport to be environmentally friendly and haters of all things like Wal-Mart are cognizant that it's your ideals that are forcing me to throw away my glass, plastic, newspaper and cardboard-type products.
If you're going to hate Wal-Mart because they push local businesses out, you should appreciate them because they run that recycling center with a huge operating loss on it. Good luck finding a "local" recycler that's not in it for a profit.
W. Matthew Brown,
Lawrence
Comments
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merrill (anonymous) says…
"While WalMart is temporarilydown, there is another drop off recycling facility in Lawrence.
12th & Haskell Bargain Center
1146 Haskell, 785-865-3730
Summer Hours: M-F 8:30-5:00, Sat. 8:30-1:00
accepted materials
Aluminum Cans & Foil ($$)
Steel "Tin" Cans ($$)
Corrugated Cardboard & Paper Grocery Sacks
Plastic Containers #'s 1, 2, 3, 4 with necks (i.e. NOTbutter tubs, yogurt containers, etc.) (please remove lids)
Mixed Paper, Phone Books, and Chipboard
Office (White) Paper
Newspapers
Catalogues and Magazines
not accepted
Glass
Tires
Printer Cartridges
Plastic Sacks and Six-Pack Rings
There are also five (5) curbside recycling companiesproviding service for a reasonable fee:
Jeff's Curbside Recycling
call 785-841-1284
Community Living Opportunities
call 785-865-5520 ext. 379
Home Recycling Service
call 785-979-6633
Tree Hugger Recycling
call 785-550-6267 or visit treehuggerrecycling.com
Sunflower Curbside Recycling
call 785-550-8610 or visit kansasrecycles.com
Additional recycling information may be found at www.LawrenceRecycles.org
mefirst (anonymous) says…
Thanks for the letter, though I don't agree with most of what you say, other than to point out the recycling need. Thanks Merrill for the info. My garage looks like a landfill.
Speakout (anonymous) says…
Usually, I get a small chuckle when people think that a commercial endeavor is doing something for the "community good". I have never seen it happen. If there is no profit in it, how can it be justified to the stakeholders when they invested for a profit?
Walmart pushes other businesses out of town as we can see right here in River City. But so do other chain type stores. We have very few non-franchise type clothing, shoe, and other stores. Even most of our eating places are franchise.
So if you want a place to cater to the public for the good of the public, it won't last long, sorry to say.
Skeptic (anonymous) says…
"If there is no profit in it, how can it be justified to the stakeholders when they invested for a profit?"
This is a common mistake- assuming that a discrete portion of a business that operates at a loss does not make a profit for the company overall.
The recycling center is an operational cost for walmart, that is all.
kansaskev61 (anonymous) says…
If they promised to include a recycling center at the proposed WalMart on Wakarusa drive, would everyone feel better about it being built? If only the developers would have appealed to the liberal sensabilities from the start, it would be up and running by now! When will they learn that you can't force issues here in the "People's Republic of Douglas County"!!!!!!!