Time for a new trash policy

The Metrotimes goes in depth on the incinerator. By July 1, the city must decide whether to continue leasing, buy the facility back, or (let us pray) stop incinerating its trash altogether and start exploring other options, like landfills coupled with curbside recycling.

Talking points

The next time you discuss Detroit, ignore Kwame and cut the nostalgia for Hudson's. Recite this list instead. Model D has listed the sixteen coolest initiatives in the city. This is the future.

Also in this week's issue, eight ways the city is getting greener. Normally I wouldn't promote such pure boosterism, but frankly, in the current political and economic climate (read: bad bad bad), we need it.

A cleaner Detroit River, Great Lakes

The Detroit River, once an environmental disaster, has been restored to health, reports the Free Press:

Oil spills have been reduced, phosphorus levels have declined by 90%, fish and wildlife are no longer heavily contaminated with now-banned DDT and PCBs. There has been huge progress in removing contaminated sediment from the river. Sewage treatment has improved. Mercury contamination is down 70%.

Also in the news, from the Ann Arbor Business Review, a new report suggests that cleaning up the Great Lakes could have great returns for the region (besides being the right thing to do):

Restoring the Great Lakes - controlling invasive species, addressing sewage contamination, cleaning up toxic waste and restoring shoreline - would create $50 billion in economic benefit from a $26 billion cleanup investment.

A great environmental policy

Tax plastic shopping bags. Ireland has done so with great success, says the New York Times:

In 2002, Ireland passed a tax on plastic bags; customers who want them must now pay 33 cents per bag at the register. There was an advertising awareness campaign. And then something happened that was bigger than the sum of these parts.

Within weeks, plastic bag use dropped 94 percent. Within a year, nearly everyone had bought reusable cloth bags, keeping them in offices and in the backs of cars. Plastic bags were not outlawed, but carrying them became socially unacceptable — on a par with wearing a fur coat or not cleaning up after one’s dog.

Plastic bags fill 2% of our landfills and are not biodegradable. We should phase them out, too.

Reasons to eat less meat

The New York Times explains the many drawbacks of modern meat production. To wit: deforestation, pollution, climate change, health problems, and rising food prices.

You may not object to the eating of meat on principle (I don't), but there are sound reasons to eat more plants and fewer animals.

Incineration vs. Recycling

Currently, the city of Detroit incinerates all of its trash at a plant at Russell Street and Ferry Avenue. The city's lease on the facility is set to expire in the summer of 2009. That means Detroit has the opportunity to implement a new trash policy. The Metrotimes discusses the opportunity for healthier, greener trash disposal.

Meanwhile, the Free Press notes the progress already being made to increase recycling.