This collection of essays examines underutilized, abandoned, and vacant urban land within political, economic, institutional, and policy contexts. The 11 chapters raise the essential questions: Is vacant land an opportunity or an obstacle? Are brownfields a legacy of prior industrial wealth, or of illegal and dangerous contamination? Is a land inventory vital to community needs for future growth, or the symbol of political shortsightedness? Is the reclamation of land the first step in an urban turnaround, or a giveaway of local assets?
Resisting Garbage presents a new approach to understanding practices of waste removal and recycling in American cities, one that is grounded in the close observation of case studies while being broadly applicable to many American cities today. Most current waste practices in the United States, Lily Baum Pollans argues, prioritize sanitation and efficiency while allowing limited post-consumer recycling as a way to quell consumers’ environmental anxiety. After setting out the contours of this “weak recycling waste regime,” Pollans zooms in on the very different waste management stories of Seattle and Boston over the last forty years. While Boston’s local politics resulted in a waste-export program with minimal recycling, Seattle created new frameworks for thinking about consumption, disposal, and the roles that local governments and ordinary people can play as partners in a project of resource stewardship. By exploring how these two approaches have played out at the national level, Resisting Garbage provides new avenues for evaluating municipal action and fostering practices that will create environmentally meaningful change.
Perfect for Earth Day on April 22, but important for teaching evironmental lessons year around! Michael Recycle tells the adventures of a young superhero whose power allows him to teach people about recycling. There once was a town Called Abberdoo-Rimey, Where garbage was left To grow rotten and slimy. It never smelled fresh. The air was all hazy. But the people did nothing. They got rather lazy. But the townspeople are called to attention when a streak of green crash-lands in the town dump! It’s not a bird, nor a plane, but a new kind of superhero—Michael Recycle, who has a plan to save Abberdoo-Rimey. . . and the world! Fresh and funny, Michael Recycle will entertain young and old while gently imparting an important message about recycling and environmental awareness. A special section of Go Green Tips (from Michael Recycle himself) encourages all kids to become environmental superheroes.
The affluence of western society has given rise to unprecedented quantities of waste, presenting one of the most intractable environmental problems for contemporary society. This book examines recycling and municipal waste management in three major cities: London, New York and Hamburg. A range of political and economic issues are examined to illustrate how any reduction in the size of the waste stream in order to achieve more equitable and environmentally sustainable patterns of resource use is incompatible with the current emphasis in the use of the market for environmental protection. The case studies show how, contrary to the hopes of many environmentalists and policy makers, municipal waste management is moving steadily towards the profitable option of incineration with energy recovery, rather than the recycling of materials or waste reduction at source. The evidence suggests that the achievement of a more sustainable pattern of recycling and waste management policy would demand a fundamental change in public policy, to give government a more active role in environmental protection.
Recycling is a great way to help take care of the planet. Many people recycle glass, paper, metal, and plastic instead of throwing it into the garbage. Inside this informative volume, readers will see up-close how recyclable garbage is transformed into new products. A fast-fact chart helps readers understand the importance of recycling.
How the success and popularity of recycling has diverted attention from the steep environmental costs of manufacturing the goods we consume and discard. Recycling is widely celebrated as an environmental success story. The accomplishments of the recycling movement can be seen in municipal practice, a thriving private recycling industry, and widespread public support and participation. In the United States, more people recycle than vote. But, as Samantha MacBride points out in this book, the goals of recycling—saving the earth (and trees), conserving resources, and greening the economy—are still far from being realized. The vast majority of solid wastes are still burned or buried. MacBride argues that, since the emergence of the recycling movement in 1970, manufacturers of products that end up in waste have successfully prevented the implementation of more onerous, yet far more effective, forms of sustainable waste policy. Recycling as we know it today generates the illusion of progress while allowing industry to maintain the status quo and place responsibility on consumers and local government. MacBride offers a series of case studies in recycling that pose provocative questions about whether the current ways we deal with waste are really the best ways to bring about real sustainability and environmental justice. She does not aim to debunk or discourage recycling but to help us think beyond recycling as it is today.
