Trash troubles: How Cullen Browder started reporting about garbage

This story started with a trip to drop off my trash.

I sat in the car line at one of Wake County’s solid waste convenience centers with a backseat full of boxes, bulky items, and scrap that clogged up my garage. I watched person after person unload junk in the bins for cardboard, construction debris, scrap metal, and household garbage.

The sheer amount astounded me… and I was only there for 20 minutes.

How much stuff do we discard every day curbside and at the convenience centers? How does the county handle all this waste? Where does all our trash go?

So, I started looking for answers.

Wake County dumps 400,000 tons of garbage in our only and likely last landfill each year. The clock is ticking down on its lifespan. Recycling efforts are key to prolonging that landfill life. I believe most of us try to recycle at home and work, but many of us well intentioned trash producers aren’t doing it right. We’re tossing away stuff that compromises recycling efforts and ultimately speeds up the demise of the dump.

On Thursday, Oct. 26 at 6 p.m., WRAL News explores the sheer amount of trash we toss out and the four biggest challenges facing our efforts to deal with all the waste.

Solutions won’t turn lives upside down.

Instead, new awareness of the problems will provide simple steps to more efficient recycling that saves taxpayer money and buys more time for our landfill. What I learned changed my habits.