To the editor:

First, let me say I like and appreciate Lawrence’s trash services. It is so much more personable than those run by private trash services in other cities. I like the friendly trash collectors. I like Monday yard waste collections. I love the compost/mulch sales. It truly has been a wonderful benefit of living in Lawrence. If we need to automate the system using special trash bins to make it safer for the handlers, so be it, even though I barely have enough to half-fill a small trash can once a month.

What I don’t like is the talk of a mandatory curbside recycling service. Why? We have services that work very well for those of us who recycle and consider it to be an important way to save landfill space and conserve valuable raw materials. We have the Walmart recycling center run by Community Living Opportunities, a nonprofit organization that hires disabled individuals. What happens to them if we have to pay for mandatory curbside recycling? If it’s not used, it will go away and so will the jobs. I thought job creation was important in Lawrence.

For convenience, the city has also provided bins in prime locations that recycle cardboard, newspapers and chipboard/junk mail. Soon there will be bins that take glass. Are we recyclers to be punished for those who don’t — and probably won’t — take the time to separate their recycling from other trash? The old adage “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink” comes to mind.