It's time for us to take out the trash-reuse and recycling create jobs and save lives.
Boston’s recycling rate has risen from abysmal levels in recent years, but still lags far behind the national average. Boston incinerates 80% of its residential waste and pays tens of millions annually for the privilege.
For those of us fighting for environmental protection in the United States, 2017 was not considered a banner year. But if you look beneath the surface of the decimated, damage-doing EPA, you found cities, states, companies and even everyday people doing the work that the federal government can’t be counted on to do right now. Looking back on Clean Water Action’s work in Massachusetts, we actually made some great progress. Here are some of the highlights:
Sometimes injustice at the community level, where neighbors live in close proximity to a major polluter for decades, demands that we pull out all the stops. The on-going tragedy taking place in Saugus, Massachusetts is that kind of environmental justice disaster.
This past Tuesday, December 13, Boston City Council hosted a public hearing to address a proposed "bring your own bag" ordinance seeking to reduce waste from plastic bags. Unimaginable numbers of plastic bags are used daily, for an average of 12 minutes before they are discarded. Unfortunately, less than 5% of single-use plastic bags are in fact recycled. Many people do not know how to deal with plastic bags. Really the only option for consumers is a bin in the occasional grocery store. But, like I said, only 5% of these bags ever make it to a recycling center.