Overflowing bins at recycling drop-off sites greeted residents around Jacksonville on Monday when a major shakeup in how the city collects trash forced people to take on the role of trash haulers themselves if they wanted to to keep recyclable items out of the landfill.
While true believers in recycling showed they are willing to go the extra mile — or miles — so they can take a green approach in their households, it's not clear how much that effort will actually result in keeping those plastic bottles, cardboard boxes, aluminum cans and similar items out of the landfill.
People dumped plenty of other trash Monday in and around the bins, creating the potential for contamination that ruins the ability to capture genuine recyclables for future use. The bins themselves filled up to brim and then had trash piled several feet higher in precarious mounds at some drop-off sites.
Read the rest of the story at WJCT News partner The Florida Times Union.