Monday, August 11, 2008

Green in Arkansas--the Natural State isn't big on recycling

For both of you who've been checking for updates: sorry. I was away in Arkansas for a week, visiting my family and annoying them about hypermiling. A number of interesting sustainability issues stuck out to me, not the least of which being that Little Rock is like a smaller version of Cincinnati--hugely sprawled with few mass transit options, downtown redevelopment with mixed success (though, generally speaking, LR has been more successful than Cincy with the latter).

A note about recycling: my parents live in Maumelle, a suburb of Little Rock and North Little Rock, and the only things they can leave for curbside recycling are newspapers and aluminum cans. There's a drop-off location, which isn't always a great option. Little Rock has much better curbside recycling, much like Cincinnati. They are, in fact, exactly the same (unless my bleary eyes overlooked one or two things):
  • "Clear/green soda, water and juice bottles; Translucent milk jugs; any plastic item with neck having diameter smaller than base
  • Newspaper with inserts; Corrugated cardboard boxes, flattened; Brown paper grocery bags, junk mail, magazines
  • Aluminum cans; Steel beverage & food containers
  • Clear green or brown food and beverage containers"
The above is quoted from Little Rock's Public Works website. I'm curious how many Little Rockers recycle; Cincy Mayor Mark Mallory's been pushing for greater recycling here. We'll see if it gets traction.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hey Charlie,

Call me a slacker, but I'm just now getting to check out your blog!

Wanted to let you know that LR rocks even more than "Cincy" because we can also recycle plastic shopping bags AND dry cleaner bags.

Rock on!

Becca