Recycling

Banning Plastic Bags

I like the idea of banning plastic shopping bags but I am opposed to taxing or discouraging the use of paper bags as an alternative.

Plastic shopping bags really have three strikes against them. The first is litter. They sometimes blow out car windows, out garbage trucks and landfills. The second is they don’t really break down outside of combustion. Rotting and solar degradation isn’t enough to break down large chains of polymers without burning. Fire is a natural part of many landscapes but much of our world today is fire suppressed due to the risk to property and concerns about pollution. The third thing against plastic is they are made out of a non-renewable resource. Unlike trees you can’t just plant another oil well.

A better option is using paper bags. Not taxing them but actively encouraging their use. Paper bags are a renewable resource made from an often organic crop. They subject carbon out of the air. Timber production helps support healthy forests, good jobs, recycling of paper, and helps keep recreational lands for hunting, fishing, camping and leads to protection of clean water. Even when paper bags become litter they will quickly biodegrade. Paper bags are recyclable at the curb side, can be used as kindling for starting woodstoves, have many uses around the house.

Cloth bags are fine but in my experience they quickly become dirty and wear out. I often forget where I put mine and they’re not convenient when shopping. I often use plastic bags at the store but would be more than happy to use paper bags if they were available – one less thing to have to remember to bring back to the store for recycling.

I understand that paper bags are somewhat more expensive to manufacture then plastic. It’s more complicated to manage forests properly or to collect and recycle paper than it is to make thin plastic bags from ethylene, a byproduct of natural gas production. But most retailers used to offer paper bags as part of the normal cost of doing business, so I see no reason not to go back to them.

Above the Canyon

Getting to Know the Bathtub Marys of Somerville, Massachusetts

Getting to Know the Bathtub Marys of Somerville, Massachusetts

"Somerville, Massachusetts doesnโ€™t attract many pilgrims. Spend enough time walking its narrow streets, though, and youโ€™re guaranteed a particular kind of religious experience. It may reveal itself proudly in a front yard, or sneak up on you in a side yard. But eventually, undoubtedly, youโ€™ll be blessed by the presence of a Bathtub Mary: a sculpture of the Madonna, generally about waist-high, carefully sheltered in its own protective nook. Although these constructions arenโ€™t unique to Somervilleโ€”there are plenty in the Midwest, as well as other Massachusetts townsโ€”aficionados agree that theyโ€™ve colonized the city to an unusual degree."

What would it take to make recycling a national issue?

Daily Digest: What would it take to make recycling a national issue?

"With state and local responses varying greatly, some have mused whether a federal approach could be required to help stabilize the domestic recycling situation. Trade associations have been urging federal agencies for more attention, and hope springs eternal that potential infrastructure investment could trickle down to the industry, but what if officials (elected or otherwise) actually took this up as a prime economic issue?"

Will there ever be one standard recycling measurement?

Will there ever be one standard recycling measurement?

"For a unit of measurement that carries so much weight with policymakers, press and the public, it's remarkable how little agreement there is around the best way to calculate recycling rates."

"We truly have a cornucopia and mixed bag of calculations, what counts and what doesn't count, and how they count it," said Myles Cohen, president of Pratt Recycling, during an Aug. 22 WasteCon panel. "We're not even close to having a universal measure yet."

"Cohen's MRF Summit panel, and a newly adopted SWANA technical policy, helped to further develop the framework for this ongoing discussion last week in Nashville, Tennessee."

"Did that recycling amount account for contamination? Did it include yard waste, e-waste, C&D, household hazardous waste or material sent to WTE facilities? Are cities, counties or states using the same standard measurement practices that would allow for clear comparisons? Are those numbers coming from top-down estimations or bottom-up reporting, ร  la the Environmental Protection Agency vs. Environmental Research & Education Foundation data discussion?"

Petition Ban Styrofoam (polystyrene) in Albany County

Petition Ban Styrofoam (polystyrene) in Albany County

"On 4/13/18, the Albany County Legislature voted in 23 - 13 favor of a bill to expand the ban on Styrofoam so that the ban will now cover all eating establishments in the county. Now we need Albany County Executive Dan McCoy to sign the bill. Please sign this petition so we can present it to him then forward the petition to everyone you know in Albany County and post on all your social media. Thanks--we are almost there!"