Some things work best when they’re least visible. A baseball umpire is a good example. If you don’t remember much about him after the game, he probably did his job well.
Garbage is in the same category. (Easy, ump, we’re not making that kind of connection.) If it just goes away each week without a thought, you probably have an efficient disposal system.
That describes Snohomish County’s solid waste system, and it gets even better today with the opening of the completely rebuilt Southwest Recycling &Transfer Station in Mountlake Terrace. This user-friendly, state-of-the-art facility joins the county’s other two transfer stations – the Airport Road facility near Paine Field and the North County station in Arlington – and gives South County residents a convenient place to take that extra trash that builds up after spring cleaning or a remodeling project.
For folks who just leave their trash at the curb each week, the new facility helps ensure that their can will continue to be emptied regularly at a reasonable cost. In other words, without much of a thought.
That couldn’t be said not so long ago. In the late 1980s and early ’90s, a garbage crisis loomed in Snohomish County. Local landfills were full, and a new one was being readied near an old one at Cathcart – hardly the best use for that prime acreage.
Then, an opportunity arose and county leaders had the good sense to seize it. They made garbage an export, opting to send it by rail to a willing taker – a huge regional landfill in south-central Washington. That’s where it goes today, and the Klickitat County facility should be able to handle our garbage for the next 100 years or more.
The new recycling and transfer stations are expected to meet our growing county’s needs for 20 years or more, and with capacity and efficiencies that should get customers in and out quickly. And it’s worth noting that these facilities were built without tapping the county’s general fund, meaning no sales or property taxes went toward their construction. Disposal fees cover it all, making garbage collection the self-sustaining operation it should be.
The new stations also blend in remarkably well with their surroundings. Until you’re actually at the entrance gate, these facilities look like just another warehouse.
So when you take your trash can to the curb this week, or when you deliver a load to one of the county’s transfer stations, think about the interesting journey your garbage is about to take. Then, don’t give it a second thought.
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