Recycling on Earth Day, helping to circulate local money

To the Editor,

   We just finished up another “celebrated” day of recycling, better known as “Earth Day,” that most have long forgotten about. It is now 55 years old!

   In days long past, we had scrap drives for wartime that were well executed and tons of valuable scrap donated to the war effort. With the crazy business of Trump tariffs driving markets into your yo-yo expressions of uncertainty, one would think reclaiming tons of your own junk to feed our steel mills and aluminum works would be a good thing. Especially as the price of salvage continues to climb, clean-up efforts and “Earth Day” activities would make sense.

   The malaise of our population seems focused on groceries, light bills, and gasoline, which is completely understandable. Unfortunately, the waste we produce is costly and affects the prices of everything we are concerned with.

   I’m a 75-year-old retiree with enough income to sustain me and have a need for some exercise. I go out and pick up beer and soda cans for the deposits and scrap value for crushed cons or those too ripped apart. Last year, my “exercise program” amounted to $2,000 in deposits and scrap price for aluminum. Aluminum has been inching up price-wise and is 70 cents a pound for cans.

   Advancement Services in Monticello does recycling for deposits; their program gives employment opportunities to others. This effort keeps more money circulating in our community while helping sustain others at the same time.

Steve Hanken

Monticello, Iowa