We all like to think that we are doing our part to help the environment. We sort our trash into plastic, cardboard, aluminum, rinse it out and dump it into the big blue bin in our alleyway or backyard. When trash day comes, we know that the material we put in the bin will be taken by a different truck (it's blue!) than the trash truck (it's green!) to a place where it is sorted and then sent to a factory where it is made into something new; out of sight out of mind. What a great feeling that is.

Well, unfortunately, the reality of what happens to our recyclables is something much different. I have learned that the majority of paper products placed into the recycling bin end up in the trash. I suspect that aluminum cans (and maybe some of the plastic bottles) are probably the only items truly being "recycled," but I could not confirm this through Waste Management.

The sad truth was revealed to Kootenai Environmental Alliance Executive Director Adrienne Cronebaugh on a recent trip to the Inland Empire Paper Company in Spokane. The warehouse manager said they don't accept Waste Management's recycled paper anymore because of the contamination level associated with streamline recycling. He showed her a warehouse full of paper bales from WM that were unusable.

The warehouse manager explained that streamline recycling (throw all your recyclable items in a curbside bin and let a sorting center figure it out) is very difficult to sort to obtain a clean and usable product. Adrienne saw lots and lots of plastic containers or certain types of paper that couldn't be sorted out from the rest to make a quality product, and therefore the bales will be taken to the dump. Our city managers are aware of this - they state that there is no money to be able to change the situation.

I did a little more digging around and found out that the nice, new solar-powered recycling bins in McEuen Park are nothing more than trash bins. Come trash pickup day they are dumped into the trash truck alongside the other trash (due to the popularity of the park, these bins are often emptied multiple times each week in the summer). The city doesn't even try to send them to the recycling center as they know, according to an online conversation with City Councilperson Dan Gookin, that the bins are contaminated with trash items such as dirty diapers and other non-recyclables. So much for thinking that water bottle, aluminum can or piece of cardboard is going to make something new. It is going to the same place as the dirty diaper.

When I asked if something could be done as we, the citizens of Coeur d'Alene, have spent so much money on the single source stream system and the new recycling bins in McEuen Park, I was told that the city did not have the money. I believe that the city does have the money, but it is really about priorities ($1 million is slated for the development of the Four Corners Project, for example).

Now is the time to choose: Either we invest in educating patrons of McEuen Park and the citizens of Coeur d'Alene about what kinds of items can be recycled, or we should pull the plug on recycling and stop the charade! I hope that we choose to educate as an investment in our future. Please, let your city councilmember know that this issue is important to you.

Ben Mello is a Coeur d'Alene resident. He is married to a native of Coeur d'Alene and they have three children. He is on the Board of KEA, started a nonprofit glass recycling program in Kootenai County and donates his time to coaching youth sports.