Recycling reduces CO2

A big welcome to the Washington State Recycling Association, whose annual conference is taking place this week at the Davenport Hotel. At Citizen’s Climate Lobby, we love recycling.

Because it cuts American carbon pollution by up to 6 percent per year, waste reduction and recycling is a big, easy step that we can all take to prevent catastrophic climate change. It saves money and other natural resources besides the climate as well.

More important, when we don’t recycle we shove large climate costs onto our children and grandchildren, as well as onto poorer people worldwide, effectively stealing from them, and they will hold us to account for that.

Citizen’s Climate Lobby volunteers like me believe we must all pay the real cost of this pollution, pricing carbon with a fee-and-dividend approach that returns pollution fees equally to all citizens, which both saves the climate and gives people a little money to switch to less polluting living. However, the best approach of all is to not pollute in the first place. Recycling is a major part of that.

David Camp

Chapter leader, Citizen’s Climate Lobby

Spokane