NewsBits

NewsBits

By Editorial Staff, Resource Recycling

Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley yesterday signed companion measures Senate Bill 208 [1] and House Bill 1 [2], making the availability of recycling for muti-family residences mandatory in the Old Line State. The new law requires apartment buildings or condominiums containing ten or more units to have recycling available to residents.

"The Great Recycle [3]," a recycling promotion featuring a 30-foot-tall recycling bin in New York City's Times Square, was declared a success by its organizers, collecting 15,000 beverage containers in around 10 hours. Participants handing in empties received coupons for items at an "on-site TRASHed Recycle Store," including gift certificates at various area establishments or baubles including a guitar signed by members of The Zac Brown Band. The giant bin will be featured at further events in other cities around the U.S.

A new website is seeking to put stuff that some folks don't want in the hands of folks who are looking for said stuff. The new site, ecofreek.com [4], is a search engine for free and "for swap/trade" items from over 45 "major sources," according to the company, including "garage sale items and listings, estate sales, moving sales, flea markets and more."

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Humes appeared on NPR's "Fresh Air with Terry Gross" [5] last week to talk about his new book Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash, which tackles the mounds of trash Americans produce daily and what's done with it. "We have built waste into our entire consumer culture to the point where we don't notice it anymore because of these conveniences we've created for hiding our garbage," he told Gross.

Following its testimony before the Illinois General Assembly's Environmental Health Committee last week, the American Progressive Bag Alliance has issued a letter urging the legislature to pass SB 3442 [6], which would require plastic bag and film manufacturers to register with the state and develop a recycling program.

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