Trash Rehash  

Most of us toss our bottles, boxes, and yesterday’s junk mail into the bin with either moral satisfaction or mild guilt — depending on how many empty cans we’re trying to sneak past the rules.

Is recycling a noble act, an overhyped hustle, or just a sophisticated way of rearranging our trash? One way to find out is by heading over to the recycling center, where the garbage finds its second act

“I don’t recycle. It’s a scam.”

Are you a member of that group, one of those who carefully wash and separate their garbage so that nothing remotely reusable goes to waste, or somewhere in the middle?

While many take the time to sort out recyclables from other garbage, plenty others don’t. For many, it’s a combined feeling of laziness with a vague inkling that recycling has little positive impact on a problem they doubt even exists. More committed skeptics throw in that most of what goes into recycling never becomes anything useful, that recycling is an act of left-wing virtue signaling, and that China is somehow benefitting from Americans discarding soda bottles and junk mail in separate bins.

A bit of digging, though, indicates that there is far more nuance and depth to what becomes of people’s trash. Is recycling a bunch of junk? No better way to try to get some answers than to dive straight into the town garbage dump.

Follow Your Nose

Located along Lakewood’s New Hampshire Avenue is the Ocean County Recycling Center.