Here's a sneak peak at my news story running in next week's Creative Loafing:
Don Kobasky is losing sleep over recycling.
The St. Petersburg resident lives across the street from one of the city’s 22 drop-off recycling centers, and from sunrise to well after sunset, he hears the crash of glass.
“There’s nothing worse than working 10 to 12 hours a day and waking up at 3 a.m. to glass exploding,” says Kobasky, a large, tattooed artist who inhabits an apartment across from Crescent Lake Park’s recycling center. “It’s enough to make your brain snap.”
Kobasky doesn’t know what the answer is. He’s called the city’s solid waste department to complain; they responded by putting up a bigger sign informing residents the center closes at 9 p.m.
“But it won’t do much good,” he says.
Though he’s worried about the possible costs, he’s open to a county proposal to fund curbside recycling in St. Pete and the rest of the county.
“It seems like a win-win for everyone,” he says.
But if St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker has his way, Kobasky may be hearing glass break for the foreseeable future. As the county picks apart Baker’s arguments against curbside recycling, the mayor is digging his heels in.
When asked if the city is open to the county’s plan, Mike Conners, the city’s internal services administrator and the Baker cabinet member who has taken on the county over their proposed program, replies flatly: “At this point, no.”
This article appears in Jul 2-8, 2008.
