I do my best to be environmentally conscious. I use only pellets from Colorado beetle-killed trees in my stove. My free-range chickens receive no steroids or antibiotics. They are the ultimate recyclers of table scraps and effective controllers of insect pests, allowing the garden to be chemical free. I have even joined the local cannabis economy by selling chicken manure to a nearby grower. For years, I have dutifully separated our recycling. Imagine my chagrin when the new single-stream recycling center attendant refused to accept my feed sacks and pellet sacks that were clearly marked with a No. 4. He informed me grocers accept all plastic bags. Not so. What’s an earth muffin to do? Sign me, R.E. Cycle Esq.
Just because something is “recyclable,” it doesn’t necessarily mean it can be recycled.
The city’s single-stream recycling system does indeed accept Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) or No. 4 plastics, but not in the form of a bag.
“Definitely no,” a city resources worker said. “We don’t take plastic film of any kind.”
Sheets of plastic and plastic bags clog the sorting equipment horribly. So, there is no gray area about this green service.
As far as grocers accepting plastic bags, each store has a policy for accepting them. Stores typically limit “donations” to certain types of bags. Check with your local store.
It should also be noted that most plastic shopping bags are No. 2 plastic.
Action Line suggests recycling the No. 4 unrecyclables as garden weed barriers or perhaps crafting a shade tent for your free-range chickens. Or give the large bags to your marijuana-growing neighbor.
Considering the demand for now-legal wacky tobacky, he or she needs a bunch of huge bags for distributing manure-fortified crops.
The local AM talk station, KDGO, was off the air for hours last weekend. What happened and why was it not broadcasting for so long? – Spinning the Dial
This is a situation with a weird backstory.
Our loyal reader, “Spinning,” asked this question via a postcard. So, here you have an AM radio listener asking a newspaper columnist a question via the U.S. Post Office.
Action Line is having 1980s flashback.
Anyway, when the postcard arrived, our good friend and city editor John Peel went online and emailed Action Line the postcard’s text.
The only communications tool not deployed during this process was the phone, which typically used to call a media outlet during a service interruption.
In any case, it was a great excuse to catch up with Cody Kopp, all-around nice guy and program director of KDGO.
“The station went dark due to technical issues,” he said. KDGO’s programming is beamed in via satellite, and the receiver conked out over the weekend when the station is typically unstaffed and running on autopilot.
Anyway, he identified the problem, but a part was in Farmington at another station. He had to go on a road trip and then do an install. These things take time.
Moreover, it’s just a temporary fix – the radio equivalent of duct tape and bailing wire. The real replacement part should be delivered this week.
On Friday, Cody said he hopes his handiwork holds, especially since a Durango High basketball broadcast was a few hours away.
And if the station is off the air today, don’t panic.
You see, on weekdays, KDGO features conservative talk with Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Mark Levin.
Action Line will go out on a limb and predict these guys will carp viciously about Obamacare, Democrats, taxes, the Constitution, Benghazi, liberals and feminists.
In other words, today’s broadcasts will pretty much be the same as last week’s.
So, if the satellite receiver goes on the fritz, maybe Martin Luther King Jr. Day would be a fine opportunity for quiet reflection and gratitude.
We can resume the daily bickering and outrage on Tuesday, but for today, let us dream.
Email questions to actionline@durangoherald.com or mail them to Action Line, The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301. You can request anonymity if you remember when KDGO’s studio was in the space now home to Durango Coffee Company.
