Branch Out in the New Year
I’m going to be out for a while. My next post won’t be until January. But for those of you with real Christmas trees, let me suggest you start the New Year out right.
If your tree ends up in a landfill every year, why not try something new and let someone compost it for you? Earth 911 is a national non-profit foundation that, among other things, promotes recycling. They have compiled a directory where you can find out if there is a tree composting program near you. All you need is your ZIP code.
That’s a good first step to having a happy New Year.
What are your thoughts about instituting the collection of plastic bags for recycling at EPA? Or phasing out the use of Styrofoam products? Currently, our recycling program collects the majority of daily waste-products, however, these are two areas where I think we can improve upon.
Posted by: Tina Chen | January 02, 2008 at 01:54 PM
I like this article, but it brings up some perverse incentives that the EPA has for commuting. So if I drive I can get a parking subsidy. If I carpool, its more. If I take the metro, I get reimbursed for $110 a month. When I ride my bike, which is the most environmental way, I get nothing but a piece of metal to lock my bike to.
I think this is a most bizarre way of doing things for an environmental organization
just one man's opinion.
Posted by: Alex | January 02, 2008 at 03:51 PM
Furthermore, the further out I live, the more the subsidy is. Even stranger
Posted by: Alex | January 02, 2008 at 03:54 PM
Is there any way of complaining to the EPA that my tax dollars must go towards defending California's lawsuit, which it will lose, and should lose, because top administrators at the EPA don't know what the "E" stands for anymore? I'm not trying to rant at you, and there are many dutiful nonpartisan folks working very hard there, their lawyers among them. So where, how, can reasonable voices be heard...?
Posted by: Jen | January 03, 2008 at 12:44 PM
Tina: Let me find out more regarding plastic bags and styrofoam.
Alex: The parking subsidy is something that bothers me. When I was at OMB and while I have been at EPA I have suggested removing the federal parking subsidy. However, in my experience, this is not a popular idea. I understand the resistance -- I too enjoy a parking subsidy. But it is a fair question: if there is environmental damage caused by commuting by car that is not captured in the price of commuting, why do we make it even cheaper to commute by car?
Posted by: Marcus | January 04, 2008 at 02:20 PM
Tina,
Here is what I found out. I confirmed that plastic bags (e.g., grocery bags) are currently not part of what EPA recycles, at least at Headquarters. I've asked that we find out how much it would cost to include them in our recycling contract.
My own experience is that most people let them accumulate at home and then take them periodically to the store for recycling. So I'm not sure how many bags we'd collect if we added it to the EPA contract. By the way, we don't collect bags at my house anymore. A few months ago we bought some strong big reusable shopping bags (2 for $1.79 at Costco) and use them for all our food shopping.
Regarding styrofoam, the vast majority of food service at EPA is retained by GSA and follows their requirements. So we are going to talk to GSA to see what their policy is. That said, we do directly contract with some folks. One of the bigger EPA food vendors is at RTP and I understand they are using corn-based biodegradble plastics as part of that contract although I don't think the contract specifically bans styrofoam.
Posted by: Marcus | January 18, 2008 at 01:05 PM