Solid Waste

Rocks Made of Plastic Found on Hawaiian Beach

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"And if it’s true that plastic is not degradable, well, the planet will simply incorporate plastic into a new paradigm: the earth plus plastic. The earth doesn’t share our prejudice toward plastic. Plastic came out of the earth. The earth probably sees plastic as just another one of its children. Could be the only reason the earth allowed us to be spawned from it in the first place. It wanted plastic for itself. Didn’t know how to make it. Needed us. Could be the answer to our age-old egocentric philosophical question, “Why are we here?”

- George Carlin

Do Plastic Bag Bans Work?

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Do Plastic Bag Bans Work? - Scientific American

The answer, in short, is yes. Plastic bags are kind of handy for camping, but their mass use in cities is a bad thing.

Why It Makes Sense to Site Albany’s Next Landfill in Sheridan Hollow

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Albany is in the need for landfill space and cash from tipping fees. The city also has a crime and blight problem. Imagine if the city leaders could solve both problems, by removing a blighted urban neighborhood in the process?

State Capitol

Sheridan Hollow has long been one of the most blighted areas in the city. It has been even featured on the television show, Jeopardy! as a symbol of urban blight. It is where a majority of crimes occur within the city, and is an empty depression on the landscape that could be used for dumping garbage, while eventually creating a quality park or nature preserve that is level to downtown.

Riding the A-Trail up Sugar Hill

Building a downtown landfill makes a lot of sense for Albany and the Capital Region. Downtown Albany, by the city’s own analysis is the center of the wasteshed. It would reduce trucking costs to dump garbage in Sheridan Hollow, especially compared to more distant sites. It would be a lower greenhouse gas alternative, and the landfill gases could be pumped into the Sheridan Hollow Steam Plant to help heat state office buildings.

Replacing the blighted neighborhood of Sheridan Hollow with a modern solid waste landfill facility would cut crime, blight, and provide a long-term source of revenue to City of Albany, while protecting cherished landscapes like those in Albany Pine Bush.

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Plastic Bags

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I've for a long time used reusable bags. But I occasionally don't have reusable bags with me, and it really bothers me how many darn plastic bags they shops bag things in. If I was paying 10 cents a bag, they darn well would be using a lot less plastic bags.

Heck the last time I was shopping to go camping, I swear they used 20 bags. I don't need 20 plastic bags for $50 in groceries I picked up to go camping. You don't have to wrap every meat item in a separate bag, or only put one or two things in each bag. When I use a cloth or another reusable tote bag, I rarely fill more then 1-2 bags, especially with my larger bags. Then again, with plastic, the bags fall apart if you put more then an object or two in them.

Plastic bags are handy when camping. They do help keep things neat to a bit in the cooler, and are great for putting the day's burnable camp garbage in when camping. But they sheer amount of plastic bags stores give you is just offensive.