150 million Americans recycle every day at home and
at work because it conserves resources. Our elected
employees in Congress, however, act like the rules
that apply to the rest of America do not apply to them.
Remember, its an election year, more Americans
recycle than vote ...and recyclers vote!
Send the letter below to your Representative and
Senators from GRRN's website: http://www.grrn.org/
(thanks to Center for Environmental Citizenship!).
Background information is on GRRN's site and on
a new website: http://www.recyclecongress.org
Dear Representative / Senator ____ :
I am writing to express concern about the failure of
Congress to manage recycling and waste reduction
effectively in Capitol Hill offices. The Architect of the
Capitol did such a poor job last year that 71 percent of
the paper collected for recycling was contaminated and
Congress got no revenue at all for millions of pounds of
paper.
It is my understanding that Congress could increase
revenue tenfold by simply separating high grade office
paper (such as letterhead and copy paper), cardboard
and newsprint, and avoiding contamination. Why should
taxpayers lose more than $300,000 this year due to the
failure to separate these kinds of paper and keep them
clean?
In addition, I understand that millions of pounds of
valuable paper, aluminum cans, glass and plastic bottles
and other materials are being needlessly sent to landfills
rather than being recycled. Why should taxpayers spend
hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to transport and
landfill these recyclable materials.
At a time when many businesses are reducing waste by
70 to 90 percent and doing it cost effectively, Congress is
clearly wasting valuable natural resources and tax dollars.
Even worse, I understand that these problems have been
known for years.
It's good to see Congressional committees holding
hearings on Bridgestone/ Firestone tires and auto safety,
but when are you going to cleanup your own wasteful
practices and protect worker safety?
Please take action immediately!
Sincerely,
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