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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.

Saugus is home to the oldest trash incinerator in the state and its owner, Wheelabrator, is proposing to expand the ash landfill on the site–despite the fact that the landfill is unlined, is smack in the middle of a beautiful marsh formally designated as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern, and surrounded by densely-settled low

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.

The other 95% of plastic bags

On April 4, during a surprise Spring snowstorm, the City of Boston and the Boston Recycling Coalition joined forces to host our first-ever Zero Waste Municipal Leaders Summit. Despite the weather, the room was abuzz with anticipation at the newly opened Bolling Building in Roxbury's Dudley Square: a good day to talk trash.

(Scroll down and click images to view presenters' slides.)

Over 20 officials from several City departments and City Council, most of whom had never discussed with any other department their role in regulating waste, joined in talks with visitors from nine other towns across