Clipmarks | urbanlife's clips

Peak Everything: Why Are We Running Out Of Everything?

Fri, 30 May 2008 21:29:02 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: Why those basic things that we take for granted--such as water, food, and fuel--are getting expensive and scarce, all at once?

Clip Source: planetgreen.discovery.com

Peak Metal

Demand for products made from metals is exceeding production capacity

Clip Source: planetgreen.discovery.com

Peak Oil

declining and uncertain supply with exploding demand

result is a rapid increase in price, with ripple effects throughout the rest of our society, which is built almost entirely out of cheap oil

Clip Source: planetgreen.discovery.com

Peak Corn

if we are made of corn, corn is made of fossil fuels

When gas prices started going up, so did the price of corn.

Clip Source: planetgreen.discovery.com

Peak Rice

spot shortages appear to be caused by political action, such as export controls, and through waste

Clip Source: planetgreen.discovery.com

Peak Water

There is lots of water in America, it is just grossly mis-allocated and wasted.

Clip Source: planetgreen.discovery.com

Peak Gas

markets are pushing up natural gas in reaction to higher oil prices

Clip Source: planetgreen.discovery.com

Peak Electricity

we still have what Bill Richardson called "a superpower with a third-world electricity grid."

the demand is only going to get higher

Clip Source: planetgreen.discovery.com

Peak Dirt

the world is losing soil 10 to 20 times faster than it is replenishing it

Till it and plant a monoculture like corn on it and that soil gets depleted rapidly

Tags: resources, energy, limited, conserve, protect, future

Shipping Containers Converted into Homes for Urban Poor

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:42:25 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: "Finally, a home of our own" - the foundation of PFNC, whose goal is to provide housing to those who most desperately need it around the globe.

PFNC utilizes surplus shipping containers resulting from the United States' consistent trade deficit. The containers serve as the building block of PFNC housing, after an extensive conversion process to make them a home.

They designed a galley-style kitchen with a stove, sink, refrigerator and dinette, and a 48 sq. ft. bathroom with a pedestal sink, shower and commode, a bunk area for children; separate sleeping quarters for the owners.

A half million people could benefit from such homes in Juarez, Mexico alone. Affordable for the average worker at manufacturing plants in Mexico along the U.S. border...instead of a cardboard shack, a real home, offered as a employee benefit in "a work to own" housing program. PFNC doesn't intend just to build shelter: it wants to build communities.

Clip Source: www.nowpublic.com

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

a side trip through a destitute, ramshackle neighborhood in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, that detoured Brian McCarthy from building houses in Albuquerque to an idea to offer the very poor a chance to own a home.

a standard shipping container that hauls goods worldwide -- a 320-square-foot home with a kitchen, bath with toilet, sleeping areas, windows and a bright blue door

includes hookups for air conditioning, ventilation, electrical and water systems

"We saw hundreds of homes that are made out of wood pallets and cardboard and scrap metal and scrap building material,"

the partners formed PFNC Global Communities; PFNC stands for "Por Fin, Nuestra Casa," which roughly translates as "Finally, our own home."

320 square feet and keeping the price to about $8,000 to be affordable for the average worker at maquiladoras, manufacturing plants in Mexico along the U.S. border

more than just four walls and a roof but to kind of raise the standard of living in Juarez and other places

Clip Source: weburbanist.com

Clip Source: www.pfnc.net

Tags: homeless, mexico, community, ideas to improve the world, housing, work to own, home, brighter safer future

Yellowstone's Greatest Threat: the Loss of Habitat to Development

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 21:42:05 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: The world's first national park is concerned about the fate of wildlife in the park: Each year their habitat is slowing disappearing. Yellowstone gets millions of visitors each year, which makes preserving the park even more challenging.

Achieving a balance between the ecosystem and the visitors is what was originally intended in creating the park. Congress told the rangers, 'You will conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife in the parks, and you will manage them in such a manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for future generations'

Clip Source: www.bundubashers.com

Clip Source: www.npr.org

Harsh winters in Yellowstone drive the animals to more suitable winter habitats, where they can find food. In many cases, those areas are being lost to development.

the greatest threat to the park in the next 10 to 20 years is the loss of winter habitat

the animals can't survive without this scarce habitat type and it's disappearing rapidly

Yellowstone can recover from fires, it can recover from a lot of things — it can't recover from permanent loss of winter habitat

Clip Source: www.nature.org

Clip Source: www.npr.org

only about 10 percent of the greater Yellowstone area, almost none of which is in the park, is suitable for wildlife during the winter

Of that percentage, a third is already developed and another third is slated for development.

The Nature Conservancy is advocating for the last third — about 1 million acres — to be protected under some kind of conservation status

The future of the park depends on striking a balance between preserving the ecosystem and allowing visitors to get the most they can from their time there.

Clip Source: www.naturalsciences.org

Clip Source: www.nationalparkstraveler.com

Clip Source: www.itsnature.org

Tags: wildlife, conservation, protect, future, winter, development, plan now

The Fall of Great Cities: America's Fastest-Dying Cities

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 18:53:24 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: The former manufacturing backbone of the U.S. is in rougher shape than ever, still searching for some way to replace its long-stilled smokestacks. Where's it worst? Ohio has 4 of the 10 cities and Michigan has 2 cities making the ranking.

So far this decade, 115,000 people have left Cleveland. Smaller changes in other regions can be just as painful: People are leaving in the thousands and they are not being replaced by either new babies or new immigrants.

These cities face fleeing populations, painful waves of unemployment and barely growing economies... And they face even bleaker futures.

Once great centers of business and industry, these cities now are shells of their former selves. They will have to re-shape their image & think outside of the box in order to try to attract future residents and businesses.

The top 5 fastest dying American cities:

1. Canton, Ohio

2. Youngstown, Ohio

3. Flint, Mich.

4. Scranton, Pa.

5. Dayton, Ohio

Clip Source: www.forbes.com

Charleston, W.Va.

Migration (since 2000): -5,776

Total population change: -5,682

Unemployment: 4.8%

Clip Source: www.forbes.com

Detroit, Mich.

Migration (since 2000): -174,592

Total population change: +15,033

unemployment: 9.7%

Clip Source: www.forbes.com

Buffalo, N.Y.

Migration (since 2000): -51,302

Total population change: -41,926

Unemployment: 5.7%

Clip Source: www.forbes.com

Springfield, Mass.

Migration (since 2000): -16,626

Total population change: +2,643

Unemployment: 5.9 %

Clip Source: www.forbes.com

Cleveland, Ohio

Migration (since 2000): -115,411

Total population change: -51,539

Unemployment: 7.7%

Clip Source: www.forbes.com

Dayton, Ohio

Migration (since 2000): -33,499

Total population change: -12,616

Unemployment: 6.9%

Clip Source: www.forbes.com

Scranton, Pa.

Migration (since 2000): +2,431

Total population change: -11,197

Unemployment: 6.2%

Clip Source: www.forbes.com

Flint, Mich.

Migration (since 2000): -17,221

Total population change: -1,433

Unemployment: 9.7%

Clip Source: www.forbes.com

Youngstown, Ohio

Migration (since 2000): -28,435

Total population change: -32,260

Unemployment: 7.3%

Clip Source: www.forbes.com

Canton, Ohio

Migration (since 2000): -7,807

Total population change: +212

Unemployment: 6.7%

Tags: revitalization, suburban sprawl, unemployment, population, migrate, future, vacant, planning, industry

Lesson of the Day: How Our Country Should Live More Like the Amish

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 17:27:03 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: “In Amish life: principles of compassion, empathy, generosity and selflessness are central. When they run their community this way, it is admirable. When we try to solve our country's problems in much the same way, it is degraded and thought despicable.”

“As children we are taught to take turns, to share & to treat others as we would want to be treated. These are basic principles that few people would deny are essential to being a kind, compassionate, moral person, whether a child or adult.”

“We apply these principles to our personal lives, but when it comes to our country, our government and our communities, we start hearing things about "no free rides" and about how we mustn't become a welfare state.”

"What we teach our children, what we challenge ourselves with spiritually, what we know is right in any other context...it all suddenly no longer applies.”

Clip Source: www.threeolbags.com

Clip Source: www.xanga.com

A few months ago

Nappanee, Indiana was hit by an EF3 tornado that destroyed a very large portion of its homes and businesses

we were expecting to see piles of debris and wreckage

what we mostly saw were brand new buildings that had been freshly rebuilt upon their standing foundations

This was only three weeks after disaster struck

at least 75% of what had been damaged was already completely fixed

how could this reconstruction be?

The answer: Amish people.

their organization of the reconstruction effort began first thing in the morning after the tornado hit

Amish people came in from Ohio and even as far as Pennsylvania to assist their brothers in need

All we ask is that if it happens to us, you do the same thing for us that we have done for you.

How can we, as modern day, non-Amish Americans really be a more kind, generous, thoughtful and selfless nation?

How can we build our ethics and our compassion and our morality? How can we learn from the Amish? Not as individuals, but as a community?

Tags: reconstruction, community, neighbors, future, children, together we can chage the world, share, compassion

Great Lakes Basin Compact: Protect a Natural & National Treasure

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:50:50 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: The Great Lakes are a finite, non-renewable natural treasure - containing a combined total of 6 quadrillion gallons of water — one-fifth of the world's fresh surface water. The lakes span 10,900 miles of coastline along the United States and Canada. The surface area of the lakes is larger than the states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire combined.

In 1998, there was a Lake Superior-based company in Ontario that proposed to take water by tanker out of Lake Superior to Asia.

This proposal failed and spurred the Great Lakes governors to take action. In 2001, they agreed to a framework to begin negotiating the compact. By 2005, they had a deal to take to their state legislatures...the base for the Great Lakes Basin Compact.

It says clearly that the Great Lakes should not be the long-term water supply answer for any other part of the world or any other part of the country.

Clip Source: www.treehugger.com

Clip Source: www.progressohio.org

Clip Source: mff.dsisd.net

Clip Source: www.minnesotalakes.net

Clip Source: www.npr.org

The eight Great Lakes states are on the verge of sending to Congress an accord that would keep water from being diverted out of the Great Lakes watershed.

The five Great Lakes — Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie and Ontario — contain about 90 percent of the fresh surface water in the U.S. and about one-fifth of the entire world's supply.

The Great Lakes Water Compact aims to protect the lakes from large-scale water diversions.

Less than 1 percent of these great lakes are renewed every year through rain and snow melt

we have to make sure that the water that we have stays here and doesn't get squandered

In addition to Pennsylvania, the Great Lakes compact has been approved by the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and New York.

The compact, first and foremost, requires those within the Great Lakes basin to take better care of it.

states are required to develop water conservation plans and water quality standards

prohibits large-scale diversions of Great Lakes water

Clip Source: cache.eb.com

Clip Source: sitemaker.umich.edu

Clip Source: www.indianawildlife.org

Clip Source: www.expressmilwaukee.com

Tags: water, environment, natural resource, protect, limited supply, freshwater

Youth Court: Teen Offenders Allowed a Jury of Their Peers...Other Teens

Tue, 27 May 2008 18:06:39 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: With more than 1,270 youth courts in 49 states: Youth courts are one of the fastest growing ways to prevent juvenile delinquency.

Youth courts, also called Teen courts or Peer courts, are unofficial, alternative courts in which first time, teen, low-level offenders, are diverted from the juvenile justice system and agree to be judged by other teenagers. The teens don’t decide guilt or innocence they are there to only hear out the defendants, ask questions and hand out sentences.

Not harsh sentences, but alternatives for these kids to come back into the community and become better citizens: such as completing community service, a drug awareness program, a mediation program, or a job interview program…one sentence included writing an essay on where he expects to be in 5 years.

Youth court offers a win/win situation: It lightens the overburdened juvenile court system, educates its student officers and tries to rehabilitate offenders by building on their strengths.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Clip Source: www.youthcourt.net

Clip Source: www.fredericknewspost.com

high school students had a heavy burden to bear as they heard the first cases presented in Frederick County Teen Court

jurors quizzed four of their peers about the circumstances that brought them to court

It was up to the teen jurors

to decide what penalties to impose on the young offenders

The crimes -- and the punishments -- are real

In contrast to traditional court proceedings

where judges or juries determine guilt -- the accused in teen court, usually 12 to 17 years old, must admit their wrongdoing

They come to court prepared to accept punishments decided by a jury of their peers.

Jurors and defendants are not allowed to know each other and do not attend the same schools.

A diversionary justice program run by teens for teens, the court offers first-time offenders a chance to learn from their mistakes without facing the high cost of juvenile court and a record of delinquency

it offers young teens an excellent chance to advance and get a second chance in life

Everybody makes mistakes

Tags: second chance, community, rehabilitate, future, education, local government

No Smoging in Paris: Building That Eats Smog & Cleans Air

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 16:56:17 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: To absorb and recycle smog from the intense traffic near Paris in an "Innovation Center for Sustainable Development."

Clip Source: vincent.callebaut.org

Clip Source: www.inhabitat.com

Callebaut’s ‘Anti Smog: An Innovation Centre in Sustainable Development’ is a catalyst for cleaner air.

project balances public galleries, meeting rooms and gathering spaces over canals and abandoned railroad tracks in the 19th Parisian district

the process as an intention to “absorb and recycle by photo-catalytic effect the cloud of harmful gases (Smog) from the intense traffic near Paris.”

Under the smog eating exterior, the building houses public spaces with a central courtyard and natural lagoon, a place Callebaut envisions for teaching opportunities about urban ecology and renewable energy

also harvests rainwater from green space on the roof for use inside the building.

The “Wind Tower”

Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT) to capture the prevailing urban winds

Ramps lead visitors through museum space and out to a rooftop garden with views across Paris.

an innovative urban space that is engaging, powered by renewable energy and has a positive impact on the surrounding urban environment.

Clip Source: vincent.callebaut.org

Tags: smog, sustainable, clean air, architecture, paris, no smoging

Beyond Zero-Energy: The World's 1st Positive Energy Building

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 16:07:23 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: Generates more energy than it consumes. The building’s aggressive approach to sustainability enables it to offer the lowest energy consumption per square meter for its class. The complex will utilize sustainable materials and feature integrated wind turbines, outdoor air quality monitors.

In addition to serving as the Masdar headquarters, the building will accommodate private residences and ‘early bird’ businesses starting up in the city. The Masdar development will be constructed over seven phases and is due to be completed by 2016.

Clip Source: www.smithgill.com

Clip Source: www.inhabitat.com

setting new design standards for green building, with their scheme that generates more energy than it consumes

The Masdar Headquarters building outside of Abu Dhabi is also the first building in history to generate power for its own assembly, using a solar roof pier that will be built first to power the rest of the construction.

The building’s sustainability gave it the edge to beat 159 others in the international design competition.

The $300 million, 1.4 million square foot headquarters will serve as the stunning centerpiece of the super-green, car-free Norman Foster-designed Masdar City, the $22 billion development just outside Abu Dhabi.

one of the world’s largest integrated photovoltaic systems and the world’s largest solar thermal driven cooling and dehumidification system

Compared with typical mixed-use buildings of the same size, the Headquarters will consume 70 percent less wate

Masdar’s headquarters is part of phase one and will be completed by the end of 2010

Clip Source: www.smithgill.com

Tags: positive energy, sustainability, abu dhabi, future, super-green

How Parking Lots Can Beat the Heat & Gain Energy

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 20:04:01 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: On hot, sunny days when air conditioners threaten to overload the power grid, solar power generation makes a lot of sense.

Parking lots in asphalt-rich cities have great solar potential because the panels can be oriented to optimize power production during summer afternoons when electricity is most valuable.

Google, for example, has installed solar canopies on its parking lots to satisfy 30 percent of its headquarters' power demand.

Because the parking lots for most commercial buildings are bigger than the buildings themselves, economies of scale for large installations can further reduce the cost of the solar panels.

We shouldn't wait until the next heat wave to think about getting solar power from our parking lots.

Clip Source: www.metaefficient.com

A start-up company called Envision Solar has begun installing solar canopies in the parking lots of shopping centers.

These lots, usually barren, heat-producing landscapes, can now provide shade for customers, while generating up to a half-megawatt of electricity.

Envision’s “Solar Groves” incorporate lights that turn on automatically at night, while blocking skyward light pollution.

Clip Source: www.envisionsolar.com

Envision Solar believes that energy should be clean and accessible to everyone. Solar energy is one of the leading sustainable solutions to the world’s dependence on carbon fuels. We intend to provide durable and attractive integrated photovoltaic systems to help lead the worldwide transition to renewable energy use.

Tags: parking, solar, zoning, energy, power, cars, smart idea, good use of space

The Throw-Away Culture: Do you Own your Stuff?

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:38:18 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: Our new economy may be just the motivation people need to stop and think before they toss.

If something breaks our first instinct is to throw it away and buy it new, instead of trying to fix it.

But even if we wanted to fix it, manufacturers have made it difficult for us to repair, re-use or upgrade our stuff.

Mr. Jalopy urges technology companies to create forums for consumers to share ideas, and pushes car companies to sell patterns so people can create accessories like seat covers....he wants companies to make schematics readily available so consumers can fix and re-imagine the objects they buy.

Clip Source: makezine.com

Clip Source: www.danramsey.com

Clip Source: www.npr.org

a push to re-imagine the objects we own rather than throw them away

the movement is about reusing and repairing objects, rather than discarding them to buy more

a philosophical idea about what ownership really is.

The terms of ownership are still dictated by the company that assembled it

If you're not able to open and replace the batteries in your iPod or replace the fuel-sender switch on your Chevy truck, you don't really own it

preaching the gospel of open source manufacturing

some corporations have shown interest

He tells them to use screws instead of glue, and to make schematics readily available so consumers can fix and re-imagine the objects they buy.

the economy may soon force people to alter their approach to objects

He yearns for the 1950s, he says, when people held onto their things for many years, fixing rather than discarding them.

Tags: reuse, repair, reduce waste, treasure, you can do it, own your stuff forever, cost of replacement

Parents Come Together to Teach Virtues to Children of Many Faiths

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 19:28:13 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: Classes stress the development of moral values as taught in all world religions, such as patience, honesty, and compassion.

Parents work with the children to teach them to respect the different cultures and religions of the world. The moral basis of the program is to encourage children to look at their own behavior and how they contribute to a better world.

"Parents of my generation feel incredible pressure to make our kids read earlier, to know math sooner and better, to get into the top preschools and then the best schools,"

"But what many of us forget is the other side of the character of our children, not just the academic side, but the spiritual side and their character side."

Clip Source: news.bahai.org

Clip Source: www.npr.org

a new kind of Sunday school, where families from a range of religions gather to teach virtues to their young children

what many of us forget is the other side of the character of our children, not just the academic side, but the spiritual side and their character side

a virtues class — where the children learn virtues such as obedience, service and friendliness

the Baha'i faith has sponsored about 900 such classes nationwide

They're based on the central Baha'i tenet that all religions are different but come from the same source, God

The parents come from Muslim, Jewish, Protestant, Unitarian Universalist, Greek Orthodox and Baha'i backgrounds

"Remember how we talked about how religions are a lot like lamp shades?"

"They may look different, they may be different colors or sit in different rooms, but they all have the light of God inside of them."

Each week, the children learn a different virtue.

They studied "justice" for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday

Clip Source: news.bahai.org

Clip Source: www.npr.org

Tags: come together, peace, love, children are our future

Porridge: A Good Source of Energy For Your Body & Your Factory

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:30:16 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: A FIFE factory is to become one of Scotland’s greenest when it begins generating all its own energy from oat husks.

Quaker, which produces Scott’s Porage Oats at its Uthrogle Mills plant near Cupar, is to invest £6 million in a combined heat and power biomass boiler which will make it carbon neutral.

The husks, removed from the oats during the milling process, will provide 9,709 MWhrs of electricity and 10,902 MWhrs of steam a year, reducing its emissions by 9,000 tonnes a year.

“This innovative approach by Quaker to cut carbon emissions through investment in new low carbon technology will be a powerful signal to other businesses that reducing carbon emissions and looking for sustainable energy sources makes business sense.”

Clip Source: www.inhabitat.com

Scott’s Porage Oats, a Quaker Oats Factory at Uthrogle Mills in Scotland is installing a combined heat and power biomass boiler that will enable the factory to become carbon-neutral, running entirely on waste oat husks

Clip Source: www.repp.org

Clip Source: www.thecourier.co.uk

will allow oat husks—the part of the oat left over from porridge making—to generate renewable power for the entire site

the steam and electricity produced would reduce carbon emissions by 9000 tonnes a year—equivalent to the typical annual carbon emissions of 3000 cars

Surplus power will be released to the National Grid, preventing a further 1800 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually

The move will also cut out the need for transporting husks away from the site, which accounts for 172,000 miles and 600 tonnes of carbon emissions a year

Every service or product we purchase has an impact on climate change

Clip Source: www.inhabitat.com

Now none of the energy stored in the oats will go to waste.

Tags: eat your oatmeal, scotland, green factory, carbon neutral

Woman Challenges Putin and Saves World's Oldest & Deepest Lake

Fri, 02 May 2008 18:36:17 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: Environmental activism is growing increasingly hazardous in Putin's Russia. With growing limitations on freedom of speech in Russia, if you oppose a state company, you can expect to come to the attention of the state security services. But Rikhvanova, a biologist and veteran environmental crusader, was devoted to saving Lake Baikal, she won even Putin's ear after organizing protests, petitions and flash mobs. (Last year her adult son Pavel was one of 20 people arrested after an attack on her group's environmental encampment).

Baikal, also known as the "Blue Eye of Siberia", is the world's oldest and deepest -- and largest -- freshwater lake, home to more than 1,700 species of plants and animals, two thirds of which can be found nowhere else in the world.

Rikhvanova is now organizing to block the expansion of a state-run uranium enrichment facility at Angarsk, just 50 miles from Lake Baikal, where the Russian government is planning to import nuclear waste from around the world

Clip Source: www.irkutsk.org

Clip Source: www.csmonitor.com

Concerned with plans to route a major oil pipeline within 900 yards of pristine Lake Baikal, Marina Rikhvanova and her Baikal Environmental Wave advocacy group led thousands of people into the streets

collected over 20,000 petition signatures

After two months of protests, President Vladimir Putin pointedly asked the chief of state-owned oil company Transneft on TV whether an alternative route was possible

The pipeline was subsequently rerouted

In recognition of her work, Ms. Rikhvanova will on Monday receive the Goldman Environmental Prize

she has spent her life battling to save Siberia's "sacred sea" – which holds over 20 percent of the world's fresh water reserves – from the depredations of Soviet industrial planners and unregulated Russian businessmen

Lake Baikal is a unique ecosystem

2,000 endemic plant and animal species

400 miles long and more than a mile deep

it is a vast reservoir of pure water – the world's largest – collected in an ancient rift valley at Asia's heart

Clip Source: www.irkutsk.org

Tags: environment, actvist, russia, lake baikal, protest, ecosystem

How Does San Francisco Keep 70% of Their Trash Out of Landfills?

Thu, 08 May 2008 21:31:08 GMT

clipped by: urbanlife
clipper's remarks: “When we look at garbage, we don’t see garbage. We see food, paper, metal, glass.” The 70 % diversion rate includes recycling, composting and source reduction (meaning reusing things instead of throwing them out.)

The city has 12 recycling streams, or programs, devoted to different materials, including regular garbage, construction debris, furniture and paint. For example, much of the concrete from demolished buildings is recycled in new sidewalks.

Unwanted paint is blended it in 55-gallon drums: resulting in 3 colors — off-white, beige and green — are packed in 5 gallon tins and sent to local nonprofit organizations, schools or charitable institutions in Mexico.

They can collect scrap paper to re-sell because of low levels of glass contamination. Garbage trucks can compress mixed loads of paper, cans and bottles without breaking the bottles.

Compare 2006 diversion rates: Chicago 55%, New York City 30.6%, Milwaukee 24%, Boston 16% and Houston 2.5%.

Clip Source: www.sfenvironment.org

Clip Source: usinfo.state.gov

Clip Source: www.sfrecycling.com

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

the city found out a few weeks ago that it was keeping 70 percent of its disposable waste out of local landfills

one of the main reasons the city keeps up the pressure to recycle

The No. 1 export for the West Coast of the United States is scrap paper

Another major innovation in the past decade was the development of infrastructure for turning food wastes

into baggable compost that is used in California’s vineyards and the vast farms of the Central Valley

The garbage from San Francisco’s 750,000 residents is picked up on the pay-as-you-throw principle — the more garbage bins you need, the higher your monthly fee

The city has 12 recycling streams, or programs, devoted to different materials, including regular garbage, construction debris, furniture and paint.

Mayor Gavin Newsom

will soon be sending the city’s Board of Supervisors a proposal that would make the recycling of cans, bottles, paper, yard waste and food scraps mandatory instead of voluntary

we can get to 75 percent

Clip Source: usinfo.state.gov

Tags: trash, environment, recycle, landfills, local government