Finally, the County is taking a step forward by making the recycling easier and actually letting residents know before it starts. Let's hope that the positive changes keep coming.

While there has been a pilot in the lower keys, it is only now official that all areas of unincorporated Monroe now have single stream. That means that the pilot in the lower keys was deemed effective, and that the other haulers for Marathon, Layton, Key Colony Beach and above Islamorada are starting the process for the first time. I am very glad this got front page attention as many of the participating lower keys pilot folks still didn't know what single stream was and thought that since the garbage men were no longer sorting curbside, that it was being thrown away. Single stream is the most effective way to get people to recycle, to pick up recycling curbside and to sort recycling. I am very happy this is now a keyswide program for unincorporated Monroe.

This isn't news. Except for the small proportion of people who take recyclables to the transfer stations, residents ALREADY don't have to sort their recyclables. And while "single stream" recycling may sound like an advancement, it just helps give Waste Management an excuse to not recycle the recyclables, and mix recyclables back in with all the other trash, to be burned in their waste-to-energy plant. There's an ongoing shortage of education (and a total lack of commitment) by the city and county about what types of plastic can and cannot be recycled together. It DOES matter... and when recyclable plastics have enough of the "wrong" kinds (those other than "1" and "2", styrofoam, and unmarked plastics) mixed in with them, it's considered "contaminated", and is not recycled. The move to "single stream" doesn't mark an improvement in the program... it just means "forget about recycling". It's a sham. Yes, burning it in the waste-to-energy plant will be considered by some to be "recycling", but it's not at all efficient, and it does nothing to reduce the amount of petroleum needed to manufacture more plastic. It is not recycling.