‘The Trash Piles Up’

As a person who sorts and recycles household trash, I think that it’s interseting to note that the major trash item collected is old Times newspapers (editorial, “The Trash Piles Up,” Jan. 3). Every month I collect approximately 50 pounds of papers. With a circulation of 1,136,813, The Times generates over three-quarters of a billion pounds of waste newsprint each year! All of this waste is easily recyclable, and a company that produces this type of waste should be able to provide a program for recycling. The Times should publicize its program in the paper every day and set a goal of re-collecting as close to 100% as possible of the newsprint used.

To quote your editorial, “Developing such a program will take considerable leadership, planning and public education.” It seems that a company as large as Times Mirror is ideally suited for the task.

Could it be that in your editorial The Times is seeing the forest but missing the trees?

JAMES M. RUPP

Pasadena