Those Green Recycling Totes and Squaw Island

The Dayton House is now using the big green recycling tote distributed by the City.  Prior to that, the blue bin was regularly overflowing with recyclables.  Recycling has become an important part of life in Buffalo and its evolution is linked to Squaw Island – thus giving it a tie in to Black Rock and the Dayton House.

It’s probably been almost a decade since the old incinerator was taken down.  That polluting monstrosity was located on Squaw Island, an abandoned eye-sore.  The island has always had a hill used by neighborhood kids for sledding.  Back in the days of the incinerator, it was not a cheery Currier and Ives sort of past time either.  The island was a dumping ground and not worth spending much time on.

Things have changed and we have, among other things, the city’s recycling program to thank for it.  Recycling has cut down on the amount of waste the city must dispose of.  Activists and scientists have succeeded in convincing civic leaders that burning trash is a costly method of trash disposal – both fiscally and environmentally.  That the incinerator on Squaw Island had to come down was evident to all.  The positive result of its removal and the improvements made to the island is indisputable.

I only hiked over to the island with my dog once in the pre-park days.  The experience left me disgusted.  My dog wanted to swim in the pond, but there was garbage, clumps of weeds and other murky stuff in it.  We returned home disgusted. I was afraid she might have picked up a leach or tics, or who knows what other sort of parasite lurking in the muck.

Now the pond is cleaned up.  The area is clear and grassy.  The ballasted area at the end of the island is a haven for birds – and can make a decent swimming spot for a dog (though truthfully, I feel the constantly flowing river is safer because it can’t gather parasites).  The paths along the park are great for walking, running, riding and just relaxing.

The first year the incinerator was down, we had an influx of bats and rodents.  The new trash bins and having a dog in residence helped with that a lot.  Back in those days, our house was one of the few who religiously filled their blue totes to overflowing.  Now it’s just the way things are done.  Recycling initiatives have led to the beautification of Squaw Island, though not very many people realize this.  Were it not for alternative ways to process trash, it may very likely have been necessary to keep that horrid dump open.