Recycling Tires Is Not a Crime!
- by: Susan V
- recipient: Town of Sugar Creek Missouri
Toni Shelton of Sugar Creek is making good use of old tires, recycling them as planters. So why did she get slapped with a citation for it?
Not only is Shelton using the tires decoratively, as painted flower planters, but also to grow fresh vegetables for her family.
Even though the police department said they don’t have a problem with her using the tires as planters, they told her to get rid of her unused supply and fined her before she had a chance to move them.
They say they’re concerned about the tires breeding mosquitoes and reducing property values, but Shelton’s way of recycling them should be applauded rather than punished. Shelton has moved her unused supply of tires to an enclosed space, but she says she’d rather go to jail than pay a citation for trying to set a good example for her kids.
Tell Sugar Creek recycling tires isn’t a crime.
We, the undersigned, say Toni Shelton should be praised rather than punished for her efforts to recycle old tires.
While old tires sitting around and accumulating water do create a breeding ground for mosquitoes, so do any other containers, even those as small as a thimble - anything that will hold water will breed mosquitoes.
The best way to deal with concerns about mosquitoes is to educate the public, and these issues could have been explained to Shelton without punishing her for her efforts to do something healthy and useful with the tires.
Shelton apparently had no problem with moving the tires once she understood the issues, and the police say they have no problem with her property now. So the right thing for them to do is drop the charges and the fine. Sugar Creek Police should also be more supportive of those making efforts to recycle.
We request the Town of Sugar Creek drop the fine and charges against this good citizen and mother.
