WCC Environmental Science

Interesting map showing cities that are currently powered by 100% renewable electricity (the light blue dots) and those that have committed themselves to 100% renewable electricity. Traverse City is the only city in Michigan with a commitment to 100% renewable electricity. You can click on each city to see its goal date.

100% Commitments in Cities, Counties, & States Across the U.S. over 100 cities, more than 10 counties, three states, the district of Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico, have already adopted ambitious 100% clean energy goals. Six cities in the U.S.--Aspen, Burlington, Georgetown, Greensburg, Rock port, and Kodiak Island--have already hit their targ...

Expanded bottle deposits in Oregon have created contamination-free recycling so they can earn a higher price when sold. Curbside recycling suffers from customers putting things they hope can be recycled in the bin. Bottle returns prevent the contamination and get a higher return rate with a 10 cent deposit. Michigan needs to expand what goes into bottle return to see this boost.

Oregon Bottle Deposit System Hits 90 Percent Redemption Rate The expanded program includes more types of containers and benefits from a cleaner mix of recyclable materials, which is easier to sell than the mishmash of waste that ends up in curbside bins.

Single-stream recycling is easy for consumers but is generating contamination rates that are too high. Some cities are switching back to dual-stream recycling so paper is separated from other recyclables. If recycling is too contaminated, it goes to the landfill. Estimates are we have about 25% contamination.

The Era Of Easy Recycling May Be Coming To An End For those of us who spent most of our lives painstakingly separating plastic, glass, paper and metal, single-stream recycling is easy to love. No longer must we…