WASTE

Hello again blogosphere! I've been out of commission for two weeks due to an abnormally large amount of schoolwork and tests (I hate you Organic Chemistry)... but back to business.  This picture isn't just me trying to be artsy by showing a clear object against a dark background - it's about waste. This blog post is just a short preclude to my book review (which is coming soon!) about the massive amounts of waste we humans clog the Earth with. In this article from the NY Times a native New Yorker talks about the plastic food containers she sees other New Yorkers eating out of every day and the waste they must accumulate. These containers are going to have to sit in landfills for forever before they break down. She also goes on to talk about the bad recycling situation in New York! Unlike Knoxville where a plastic container or bottle with any number on the bottom can be recycled, New York only recycles jugs and bottles. Only 15% of the waste collected by the Sanitation Department is recycled. And due to the high amount of pedestrian traffic in the streets, there isn't alot of room (or money) to put in recycling bins. Lack of recyling bins is also a serious problem in the subway stations. No food scraps from residential homes or commercial food businesses is collected for compost either.  It's sad that New York City, one of the biggest and the most famous cities in the U.S., instead of leading the recycling movement has fallen behind. Hopefully some new initiatives such as building a new recycling plant in the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, placing more recycling bins in the streets, and incorporating recycling and other sustainable practices in restaurants will make a difference. A cool restaurant called "Just Salad" in Manhattan charges people $1 for a reusable plastic bowl that once bought they can bring in and get free two toppings for their salad every time they use it! Maybe they can also take some tips from San Francisco where "everyone, including people in charge of restaurants and offices, must separate refuse among three bins: recyclables (paper, glass, metal and most plastics), compostables (food scraps, paper food wrappers and yard waste) and trash". And maybe Knoxville could take some composting tips as well...