Photo credit:
Fuzzy Gerdes, flickr
Unless you live in an uber crunchy city, like, say, San Francisco or Portland, Oregon, being green might not exactly come naturally to you. It's okay. I'm not judging.
I live in Lakewood, California, a suburb of Long Beach that values preachy posters about old-fashioned values more than modern curbside recycling. So, maybe I don't dwell in the greenest of places (actually, it's gloomy gray today), but I can clean up my city's eco-lame act right from my own backyard. If I simply get off my duff and, bear with me, BE the green I want to see. You can, too. Really, it's not that hard.
Here's a clean, green primer to get you up-and-greening urban dwellers started. Your very own 5 Ways To Keep Your City Clean and Green:
1. Be street smart. Did you know that street sweepers remove about 13,000 tons of junked gunk every year, keeping it out storm drains that often lead to our fragile seas? You can boost the effectiveness of your neighborhood sweeper by simply keeping your gutter, alley, driveway and/or sidewalk free of trash, twigs, branches, leaves and other nasty debris. Whatever you do, don't use a water-wasting hose for this. Give your kids a rake and let 'em rip. I hear ice cream truck money helps.
2. Compost like crazy. It's easy. Compost your green waste, aka grass clippings, tree and shrub trimmings and other biodegradable landscaping leftovers. Or bag it up in time for your city's next scheduled green waste recycling collection. Lucky me! Lakewood actually has one coming up. Too bad my lawn is fried to a crisp from the scorching SoCal sun ... and my stubborn refusal to water it.
3. E-waste not, want not. Recycle your e-waste and universal waste. In the first category are any and all unwanted electronic devices, including cell phones, MP3s, digital cameras, etc. The second includes eco baddies like batteries, light bulbs, old paint, nail polish, fluorescent tubes and any items that contain mercury. "Cash for Gadgets" Gazelle.com matches your postmortem e-waste with Earth-safe, people-safe final resting places. Bonus: You'll get a few bucks back.
4.Dump the big stuff, big-time. That overstuffed 80s paisley couch probably didn't look totally tubular in the 80s, and it probably doesn't now. Do your eyes and guests a favor by making a date with your local charity to have the eyesore hauled far, far away. Someone somewhere will think its a beaut and appreciate the freecycle. Or, call your city's waste management department to find out how to finally be rid of your old couch (or any other like-sized furniture, entertainment centers, mattresses, etc.) in a green, clean and legal way.
5. Recycle more. I know, I know. You expected something newer and cooler than a run-of-the-mill reminder to recycle. But what's good for the bottle is still good for the can, except for in my 'hood. There are plenty of new things you can recycle, depending on where you live, and lots of cities are adding brand spanking new plastic codes to their recycling programs every day. Find out what's new in your neck of the 'urbs, then take it to the curb, that is if you're lucky enough to have free curbside recycling collection. Um, what's that? Huh? I'm not bitter.
Good luck, emerald urbanites, and do let me know how you make out.
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funny you should mention greener and cleaner cities right now. normally, toronto (ontario, canada) rates pretty well on the green scale. but right now we are about a week into a municipal strike - which for most people simply means a garbage strike. on the second day of the strike, people were already complaining about the garbage pile-up. i mean, really folks. it hasn't even been a week yet. people are dumping their garbage wherever they can - bins in our parks, in the local dumpsters, in school bins and dumpsters. you would think the workers had been out for a month already. it seems to bring out our true colours - and it ain't green!
we normally have green waste pick-up on a weekly basis. until this is settled, we will start up our backyard compost bin again. and just try to reduce and reuse as much as possible. it is not that hard, if you pay attention. you have some good tips for ways to help out too. thanks.
San Francisco is not really that green; I live here, so I know. Just walking through the downtown area, one sees trash all over the place. The recent Pride festival was just awful in that the event organizers had no recycle bins, and even though food vendors are now required to serve with compostable dishes and utensils, no compost bins. Trash was piling up around the too-few cans, sometimes in a four foot diameter. Market Street, where the parade was held, was literally trashed for several blocks. I don't see how a city can call itself "green" when it looks like a garbage tornado blew through it after a major event.
Now this is the smartest thing I've heard allllll day!