Regulations
California legislature passes plastic bag ban
After months—make that years—of rumblings, it’s official: California’s legislature has passed a bill that bans single-use plastic bags throughout the entire state. Individual municipalities throughout the state (and around the country) have already implemented bag bans on single-use plastic bags, but if California governor Jerry Brown signs the bill, it will be the first time […]
Wealthy Californians find ways to skirt drought regulations
In a lot of ways, forces of nature are great socioeconomic equalizers. A tornado doesn’t care what you do for a living, and a hurricane doesn’t care what kind of car you drive. And yet, as some California residents have found, money actually can trump nature—or at least buy a modicum of comfort and/or fund […]
Waste-to-energy plants successful in Europe, controversial in US
A recent report by Columbia University’s Earth Engineering Center reveals that diverting day-to-day waste to incinerators instead of landfills can actually generate electricity for 13.8 million households, and produce several other forms of energy simultaneously. But, given the reputation of these waste-to-energy (WTE) plants in the U.S., is burning better than burying? WTE plants remain […]
Recycling in Switzerland is serious business
Switzerland is second only to Germany for recycling rates in the European Union. “We Swiss like it clean and appealing,” said the former director of the Office of Environment and Energy in the Swiss city of Basel. So clean and appealing, in fact, that a resident who dared drop off her recycling on the wrong […]
An update on composting in the big apple
Every year, New York City residents send approximately 3.2 million tons of waste to landfills. That’s well over one-third of a ton of waste for every single man, woman, and child, every year. Transporting and managing that waste also costs the city $300 million dollars per year. If you’re reading this and thinking: “That’s too […]
A smart way to cut down on garbage trucks
Since we’re always trying to recycle as much as possible, our garbage cans aren’t typically filled to the brim come garbage day. And yet, without fail, the garbage trucks come rumbling down the street like an exhaust-riddled alarm clock to pick up the (sometimes half-empty) can. One innovative IT guru, software consultant, and “inveterate tinkerer” […]
Recycling scandal hits D.C.
The hit ABC show “Scandal” tackles gossipy, headline-worthy debacles in our nation’s capital. The scandals on that show are fake, but we have some good fodder in case they ever want to cover a real D.C. scandal. We recently wrote about the mess surrounding D.C.’s garbage can upgrade. A quick recap, in case you missed […]
Garbage collection goes haywire in the nation’s capital
In a perfect example of “good concept; poor execution,” Washington, D.C. has itself in a bit of a garbage debacle. Interestingly, the debacle has nothing to do with garbage itself. Instead, the problem is with the garbage containers. Here’s what happened: D.C. decided to replace the city’s household garbage cans. It was an understandable decision, […]
Austin introduces innovative organic waste recycling program
It is said that everything is bigger in Texas. If the eco-pioneers in Austin have their way, landfills will be an exception to that rule. Around 14,000 households in Texas’s capital city are participating in an ambitious pilot program that asks everyday citizens to collect their organic waste and haul it out to the curb […]
Are we bad at recycling? Some of the most common recycling faux pas
Recycling has never been more en vogue, but unfortunately, there is still a steep learning curve associated with the process — and since the regulations and technology keep evolving and changing, that learning curve isn’t flattening out any time soon. That means that many of us are not only failing to maximize the potential of […]
Should New York City start charging for single-use bags?
A recent editorial in the New York Times spells out a convincing argument for doing away with plastic grocery bags. “There’s something ridiculous about the life of a two-handled plastic shopping bag,” says the editorial board. “The 20 minutes it spends cradling your groceries home is bracketed by two vast gulfs of time. First, thousands of […]
