Volunteers in Seattle build a community garden for the hungry, on vacant land in the city.
Why can’t we do that here?
Washingtonpost.com Green Scene
- Gardeners cultivate questions about effects of severe heat on plants August 21, 2010
- Green Scene: A Japanese garden's natural serenity August 14, 2010
- Amid the heat wave, gardeners still have questions July 31, 2010
- Green Scene: Landscaping can make potential buyers feel right at home July 24, 2010
- Featured Advertiser July 24, 2010
- Green Scene: Gardening is a natural attraction for children July 17, 2010
- Green Scene: Rain gardens help conserve water in summer droughts July 10, 2010
- Whether to attract (hummingbirds) or repel (mosquitoes), products deliver June 26, 2010
- Beware of late blight, and report damage June 12, 2010
- The temperamental rose offers rewards in color, fragrance and luxuriance June 5, 2010
Environmental News Network
- U.S. Stadiums Go Solar: Major Pro Sports Leagues Move Together Toward Renewable Energy September 9, 2010
- Global warming will benefit some regions September 9, 2010
- Oxygen drops 20% in waters near BP spill September 9, 2010
- Termite Mounds September 8, 2010
- Landfill could be greener than recycling when it comes to plastic bottles September 8, 2010
- Potomac River Vegetation Showing Strong Signs of Recovery September 8, 2010
- Ecuador's tallest waterfall to be destroyed by Chinese dam September 8, 2010
EcoEarth
- China aims to increase hydropower 50 per cent by 2015 September 6, 2010
- Fast growing salmon cleared as fit for human consumption in US September 6, 2010
- Energy-harvesting technology lets the train take the strain September 6, 2010
- BRAZIL: Laws No Help to Amazon Animals, or People September 5, 2010
- United Kingdom: Miliband accuses coalition of 'greenwash' over North Sea oil September 5, 2010
- Diverse water sources key to food security: report September 5, 2010
- Kansas joins case to head off federal carbon regulation September 5, 2010
- A carbon border tax can curb climate change September 5, 2010
- Mozambique's food riots - the true face of global warming September 5, 2010
- Australia: Brumby's call to arms on climate September 5, 2010
The frustration with recycling in Fairfax is that it is confusing! Our trash and recycling company will not take anything other than #1 and #2 plastic bottles and jugs, while my neighbors company will take additional plastics af any shape. I am willing to separate them all out and find ways to recycle my #5′s (Whole Foods Reston for Preserve’s “Gimme Five” Campaign) but clearly it is a pain. If the collectors were required to take all recyclables I think folks who just don’t do it because it is frustrating to separate things would begin to climb on board. As far as recycling while out and about, businesses should be required to have clearly marked receptacles for recyclables. I’d love to see compost as well – it would be fantastic to have kitchen scrap collection like they do in some of the Pacific Coast states!
Laurie: Do you think that only 20% of us recycle because it is too confusing? I think it is because people are lazy and believe we live in a disposable world. I agree that it would be great if the haulers (and the county, who pick up some of the trash and recycling in certain areas of the county) picked up all the stuff we are able to recycle, but (not to sound like a cop out) they need to have a market for the stuff they are picking up.
If folks are currently away cans and bottles (rather than throw them in the recycle bin) simply because it is too hard to separate out their yogurt containers I would be very surprised.
As I say to the students when I do the elementary school programs–”it takes just as much effort to throw something in the trash, as it does to throw it in the recycle bin–so why aren’t you recycling?”
Laurie – it’s important to remember that the largest component of trash is cardboard and mixed paper – two items that are required to be recycled in every jurisdiction in the area. Yet cardboard and mixed paper continue to be found in large quanities in our trash. I would concentrate on the cardboard and mixed paper. The only plastics I worry about are plastic bottles – which are recycled everywhere, by all trash collection companies, and which are more numerious than yougurt cups.