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It's Now Somewhat Easier Being Green: LA Adds More Recyclable Items
Photo by denisetaylor☼ via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr
In our unending effort to be the city onto whom the least blame will fall when the planet implodes with waste, LA officials launched an initiative today that will allow residents to throw empty juice, milk, soup and wine cartons into blue recycling bins. Until today, those wishing to go green could recycle a number of other household products, including plastic, paper, batteries and aluminum beverage containers, among others.
According to NPR, this new effort will "divert more than 400 tons of waste from landfills over the next year." Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who was present at the unveiling of the initiative's launch in Fresno, hopes that this will lead to a total of three-fourths of the city's trash being recycled by the time he leaves office.
That would represent an increase from where we are now, according to LA Now:
L.A. currently diverts 65% of the 10.1 million tons of trash it generates annually -- more than any other large city in the United States.... "Since 2007, L.A. has added 440,000 multifamily households to the city’s recycling program. Seventy-five percent of multifamily households, and 78% of LAUSD campuses, now have curbside recycling," [said Villaraigosa.]
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