Tag Archives: recycling

Not everyone likes the One Bin solution

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Texas Campaign for the Environment vowed today to mobilize Houstonians against Mayor Annise Parker’s so-called “One Bin for All” proposal, saying that the scheme will take recycling away from the minority of residents who already have it, … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , | 12 Comments

Houston wins $1 million runnerup Bloomberg prize

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

From the Mayor’s office: Mayor Annise Parker today announced that Houston’s One Bin for All idea is one of the five winners in the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Mayors Challenge, a competition to inspire American cities to generate innovative ideas that solve … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Still fighting the Waller County landfill

Posted on March 9, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve written before about a battle in Waller County over a proposed landfill that would be built there. While the landfill has moved closer to being approved, it’s not yet a done deal, and its opponents are still fighting against … Continue reading →

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Adventures in water marketing

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The headline on this story is about Texans’ increasing interest in recycling water. That sounds nice, doesn’t it? But there’s another way of describing it that maybe isn’t so appealing. Experts say recycled wastewater will play a key role in … Continue reading →

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Vote for Houston in the Mayor’s Challenge final

Posted on February 23, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

From the HuffPo: Vote below for your favorite idea among the 20 Mayors Challenge finalists! Voting is open from February 20 through March 6. The Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Mayors Challenge is a competition designed to inspire America’s mayors to generate innovative … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

More on metal recycling

Posted on January 14, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron has a followup story on metal recycling and hexavalent chromium. Houston air experts plan to deepen their investigation into the air outside metal recycling companies after their measurements showed – apparently for the first time – that the … Continue reading →

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Curbside composting

Posted on January 6, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

Way to go, Austin. City officials are asking Austinites in 7,900 households in five parts of the city to separate their banana peels, egg shells, meat, chicken bones, milk cartons, leaves and any other organic material from their household trash … Continue reading →

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Recycling pollution

Posted on January 4, 2013 by Charles Kuffner

This is unfortunate. The calls to the city of Houston’s 311 help line came in the early morning and the middle of the night – complaints of red smoke, yellow smoke, explosions, fire, a child having trouble breathing. Reports like … Continue reading →

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Compost that Christmas tree

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Let your Christmas tree do some good after you get rid of it. When that Christmas tree comes down this year, take a moment to imagine its next incarnation: Chipped up and mixed into soil, it might soon secure new … Continue reading →

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“One Bin For All” in the running for prize money

Posted on November 12, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

This happened before the election, which now seems as a remote a time as the 19th century. Houston is one of 20 finalist cities from among the 305 nationwide that applied for a $5 million grant from the Bloomberg Philanthropies … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

One bin to rule them all

Posted on October 11, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

This would be an innovative approach to deal with Houston’s unacceptably low recycling rate. Under what is being called “Total Reuse: One Bin for All,” residents would wheel everything to the curb in one barrel and let the city sort … Continue reading →

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More on the landfills of Waller County

Posted on August 19, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Last July I wrote about a proposed landfill in Waller County near Hempstead and the residents who are fighting against it. The Statesman has an update on the story. In many ways, the landfill fight in this rural Texas town … Continue reading →

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Seattle bans plastic bags

Posted on July 8, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Spotted this while we were in Portland. Those ubiquitous, single-use plastic bags will no longer be available at checkout counters at grocery and retail stores across Seattle starting Sunday. The ban intended to cut down on pollution requires grocers and … Continue reading →

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Tyson Sowell: Making Plans for a Brighter Future

Posted on July 5, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The following is from a series of guest posts that I will be presenting over the next few weeks. In my previous article, I talked about the phasing out of single-use check-out bags being just one step the City needs … Continue reading →

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Tyson Sowell: The Problem of Single-Use Bags

Posted on July 3, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The following is from a series of guest posts that I will be presenting over the next few weeks. On Wednesday, June 20, Houston City Council approved a budget amendment to “address littering by plastic bags or phasing out plastic … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Recycle that polystyrene

Posted on June 25, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

From the Inbox: Polystyrene Foam Recycling Available Beginning Monday, June 25, 2012 Beginning Monday, June 25, 2012, the City of Houston will accept clean block style or packaging polystyrene foam at the Westpark Recycling Center, 5900 Westpark, Houston 77057 and the … Continue reading →

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Recycling campaign signs

Posted on June 12, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Great idea. [Mike Martinez] has been running Food is Free since founding it in late January, and now he’s asking for old campaign signs to line the edges of garden boxes. They can be dropped off in front of his … Continue reading →

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The Mayor’s 2013 budget

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

What a difference a year – and better sales tax receipts and a better real estate market – makes. Mayor Parker has unveiled her budget for the 2012-2013 fiscal year, and it promises no service cuts, no layoffs, and no … Continue reading →

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Going green to save some green

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The city of Houston has made significant investments in energy savings. The U.S. Conference of Mayors named Mayor Annise Parker the winner of Mayors’ Climate Protection Award last year for green building initiatives that incentivize conservation and energy-efficient design features. … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Who uses the white pages these days?

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I’m an old fogey. I read the dead tree version of the newspaper. I’ve installed no apps on my cellphone. I drive a minivan. Yet even I couldn’t tell you the last time I used a phone book. When was … Continue reading →

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Austin may accelerate its bag ban schedule

Posted on February 18, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

They’re considering their options. The City of Austin might ban the thin plastic and paper bags offered at checkout counters beginning in March 2013 a year earlier than expected and scrap plans to require retailers to charge a fee for … Continue reading →

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The state of water in Texas

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

The Statesman has a long story about the state of water in Texas and its outlook for the future. Short summary: We’re going to need more than what we’re capable of getting now, and it’s going to cost a lot … Continue reading →

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Recycle your Christmas tree

Posted on December 27, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

And now, a message from the City of Houston Solid Waste Department:   The City of Houston (COH) Solid Waste Management Department will embark on its 21st year of Christmas tree recycling(.pdf) after the holiday by providing recycling drop-off sites throughout Houston. … Continue reading →

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Austin mulls far-reaching bag ban

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This will be worth watching. The City of Austin might enact one of the broadest bag bans in the nation and prohibit disposable paper and plastic bags at all checkout counters starting in January 2016. In the meantime, starting in … Continue reading →

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Compost recycling in San Antonio

Posted on December 4, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

And now that I’ve mentioned compost recycling, here’s a look at how it’s working in San Antonio. At New Earth’s composting site off Interstate 10 on the far East Side, it is easy to pick out the pile generated by … Continue reading →

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Growing the recycling economy

Posted on December 3, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

November 15 was National Recycling Day – you may recall it as the day that Houston announced a program to bring recycling to apartments – and on that day the BlueGreen Alliance put out a report on growing the recycling … Continue reading →

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Recycling for apartments coming to Houston

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Last December I noted a program in San Antonio to expand recycling to apartment complexes. I said at the time that I hoped Houston would do the same as it broadens its recycling capabilities. I’m glad to say that late … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

The macrobrewers are expanding, too

Posted on October 9, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

In addition to all the new microbrewers that are sprouting up, giant international conglomerate Anheuser-Busch InBev will be spending a bunch of money to improve and expand its operations. The local Anheuser-Busch InBev brewery is using a major capital infusion … Continue reading →

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Trash into treasure

Posted on September 1, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Waste Management Inc. is looking at ways to turn trash into energy, which is the next best thing to actual treasure. “In my mind, it’s pretty simple why we’re doing it: If we don’t figure it out, somebody is, and … Continue reading →

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Another story about plastic bags

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

No news on the bag-banning front, though officials in the D/FW area quoted in this Star-Telegram story seem open to the idea, but what interested me was the numbers mentioned: Estimates show that each person now uses about 130 plastic … Continue reading →

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Austin to propose ban on plastic bags

Posted on July 29, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Good for them. The City Council will vote Aug. 4 on a resolution from [Mayor Lee] Leffingwell and Council Members Mike Martinez and Chris Riley that would direct staff members to propose a scope for the ban and a timetable … Continue reading →

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The landfills of Waller County

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

There are three things I find remarkable about this story about a proposed landfill in Waller County, near Hempstead. A Georgia-based company wants to build a landfill and industrial park just outside the city on Texas 6 and Kelley, on … Continue reading →

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The long-term recycling deal

Posted on July 11, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I noticed this when it was posted last week but didn’t give it much thought at the time. There’s a 20-year no-bid contract on today’s City Council agenda. That’s legal because it’s an amendment to an existing contract, not a … Continue reading →

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More cork recycling

Posted on July 10, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

I’m always interested in recycling stories. The [Oregon-based nonprofit Cork Forest Conservation Alliance], whose donors include vineyards, want to remind oenophiles that cork products are made from the bark of the cork tree, which regenerates and is harvested every nine … Continue reading →

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