Progress can be a good thing

Editor: The “Mokelumne Current” (clever!) is the best Lodi News-Sentinel insert ever.

I was impressed that students understand the importance of recycling and protecting the environment, especially in this area, so rich in flora and fauna.

The May 9 LNS front page feature (Stink etc.) prompts me to suggest that there are some in the community who could benefit from the “mouths of babes” wisdom.

One person suggests that the three-bin program should be voluntary, and that those who chose to participate be educated accordingly. That strikes me as “preaching to the choir.”

I’ve lived in the 1930s, ’40s and when rivers were cesspools and “refuse disposal sites”. As a deckhand on the Illinois and Chicago rivers in the ’50s, I prayed to never fall overboard. Can you imagine how much sewage could be generated by even a small portion of Chicago’s commercial/industrial complexes? We had vivid descriptions of the conditions, none of which would clear the censors of a family newspaper. The sights were repulsive, the stench, well, you get the idea. Got trash? Dead animal? Masks were de riguer.

I am so impressed with the progress made, and grateful for the evolution of refusehandling companies such as Waste Management.

Waste Management, you do an outstanding job in your attempt to secure community cooperation. Since you are making so much money, rather than a monetary fine for dissenters, I suggest a stint on the sorting line and/or on the yard and garden heap.

Kathy Grant, you are a gem. Kudos to you and to the teachers who have the future in mind and instill the love of what we are not only trying to protect, but improve.

I’ve lived the below zero and the 100 degree/100 percent humidity trips to the 2-holer.days. Not everything about the “good old days” generates nostalgia. I’ll take today with its enlightened educators, eager students, and mandatory waste management, thank you. (And indoor plumbing!) JOHN VATSULA Lodi