Single stream recycling comes to Cambridge

Recycling has gotten a whole lot simpler in Cambridge. Cambridge is the latest city to switch to single stream recycling. Cambridge residents can now throw all of their recyclables (glass, plastic, metals, paper, and cardboard) in one bin. The recycling plant in Charlestown will sort the products through a series of magnets, rotators, eddy currents, and optical scanners. Residents have also been given new larger bins with wheels (toters) to hold their recycling.

The new recycling trucks can compact the material, so they can now accept cardboard (no need to cut it up anymore), empty pizza boxes, empty paper coffee cups, large plastic items, and spiral cans (such as a Pringles can). The city expects the new, simpler program to increase recycling rates from 25% to at least 35%. Medford will begin single stream recycling on November 1st.

Watch this short animation from RecycleBank to see how it works

Article courtesy of The Boston Globe Posted by Dara Olmsted, The Green Blog

 

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"Planning our communities smarter means parents will spend less time driving and more time with their children; more families will live in safe, stable communities near good schools and jobs; and more businesses will have access to the capital and talent they need to grow and prosper."
– Shaun Donovan, HUD Secretary
www.smartgrowth.org/news/article.asp?art=7818

Article courtesy of The Smart Growth Network

Backyard Cottages Address Housing Need

Many parts of Seattle are now allowing backyard cottages in residentially zoned neighborhoods. Though the practice is not legal throughout the Puget Sound area, a host of other cities allow it. Backyard cottages allow people to live where they work and play, and have smaller carbon footprints then typical homes. Additionally, structures built on already-developed land increase urban density and generate tax income, making them appealing for many cities.
www.smartgrowth.org/news/article.asp?art=7811

Article courtesy of The Smart Growth Network

Oregon's First Full-Service Bike Transit Center

The Grand Opening of the Bikestation Hillsboro bike transit center was announced by Mobis Transportation/Bikestation. The new Bikestation facility offers a range of amenities including electronically secure indoor bike parking, showers, restrooms, lockers, a bicycle self-repair stand with tools, and transit information. Bikestation is designed to address the needs of current cyclists and people who would like to bicycle but shy away due to concerns about theft and convenience. The transit center operates on a low-cost membership model and members can use not only the Hillsboro facility, but any Bikestation located across the country.
www.smartgrowth.org/news/article.asp?art=7817

Article courtesy of The Smart Growth Network

New York City's First Official Car-sharing Program

New York City announced a new partnership with Zipcar to begin the first official car-sharing program. The car-sharing fleet ,which consists of 23 hybrids and two trucks will be shared by 300 Department of Transportation employees during the week and will be available for use by the public during nights and weekends. www.smartgrowth.org/news/article.asp?art=7816

Article courtesy of The Smart Growth Network

Planning for a New Energy and Climate Future

by: American Planning Association   

Planners have an important role to play in helping communities meet energy needs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and adapt to a changing climate. While most planners recognize the significance of these issues, they are still working to translate these imperatives into on-the-ground plans, actions, and regulations. Planning for a New Energy and Climate Future, the culmination of a three-year research and education project on the integration of climate change and energy issues into planning practice, was prepared by APA in collaboration with the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the University of North Carolina Asheville.

The report presents fundamental information about energy and climate change, provides a framework for how to integrate energy and climate into the planning process, and offers strategies for communities to address energy and climate across a variety of issues, including development patterns, transportation, and economic development. Case studies illustrate communities that have already begun taking steps in these areas.   

Resource(s): http://www.planning.org/research/energy/report.htm

Article courtesy of the Smart Growth Network

 

California Dreaming

To spur thought about California’s big questions facing the state, the California Institute of Telecommunications and Information Technology and the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society created a map of California’s ''landscape-in-the-making''.

The map lays out four alternative futures for California in 2020. The four futures include: the Smart State - representing a continued economic growth model, the Culture Commons – a constraint scenario where growth is abandoned for conservative natural resource use, 21 Century Superstructures – a future with transformed health, education, food production, and manufacturing institutions, and last the Enclave Economy – a scenario where a natural disaster (forest fire or earthquake) drains wealth from the public sector leading to natural resource privatization. California exhibits signs of each of the alternatives today. The map is a tool meant for neighbors, colleagues, and community leaders to provoke conversation and creative thinking that will build the California of the future.   

Resource(s): http://iftf.me/public/IFTF_SR-1313_CaliforniaDreaming.pdf

Article courtesy of The Smart Growth Network