NOLA residents want recycling, survey says

Over the past few months, the city of New Orleans conducted an opinion poll on attitudes toward a city-wide recycling program. The results are in and they're awesome:

• 10,000 households responded of 120,000 households
• 9,000 (of 10,000) households indicated they would "voluntarily subscribe" to a recycling program.
• When asked how much residents would be willing to pay
• 2,570 would pay nothing
• 2,858 from $1 to $3.50 a month
• 2,127 from $3.50 to $6 a month
• 1,671 from $6 to $10 a month
• 772 would pay more than $10 a month

One would think that Sanitation Director Veronica White would take this information and start a kick-ass recycling program. But no - the City has allocated $500,000 toward recycling, which is roughly enough to fund 6 months of pickup. And don't expect glass or cardboard to be picked up. Link.

98% of Americans Favor Public Transit for Others

Funny and true, yet again the Onion hits the nail on the head with this article.

"Expanding mass transit isn't just a good idea, it's a necessity," Holland said. "My drive to work is unbelievable. I spend more than two hours stuck in 12 lanes of traffic. It's about time somebody did something to get some of these other cars off the road."

Americans love public transportation. They want it readily available, on every street corner, for God's sake. But they sure as hell don't want to ride it.

Green is Universal

Earth Day was this past Tuesday (the same day as our lovely banquet). While watching an enthralling episode of "Law and Order: Special Vicitms Unit" I saw a commercial for NBC Universal's Earth Week. With tv shows that give you tips on making your everyday life more green and ways that you can make a difference, Green Week promotes slogans like, "Big Ideas for a Small Planet," "Green is Universal," and "Awareness. Activism. Results." Check here for more information and their end-of-the-week update.

Happy Greenification!

Unsubscribe Me: Waterboarding

Amnesty International released a new commercial as a part of their Unsubscribe Me campaign to end torture. The ad will be playing in select movie theaters in the coming months.

Tell me what you think.

Social Justice for Life Expectancy?

Overall, the United States has a relatively high life expectancy; women have a couple of years on men. However, as the article posted below shows, that overall number is not the same across the United States:

The study found that 4 percent of the male population and 19 percent of the female population experienced either declines or stagnation in their life expectancy in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Although this deadly trend is mostly centered in the southern parts of the nation, several largely rural counties in Washington – Cowlitz, Lewis, Benton and Grays Harbor – are also on the verge of seeing a decline in overall life span.

Surely, there's something to be said for where the life expectancy is lowest: southern parts of the nation (yes, that includes us!) and in some rural counties. What does this say about the (lack of) quality of life in our own nation? Why are these areas targeted?

Check out the full article for more information.

yours in wondering why some people live longer than others,
-j.

And we thought Nalgene's were so good!

So, as Chad disappointingly mentioned to me the other day, skipping out on plastic bottles for resuable polycarbonate is NOT as good as an idea as we once thought. If yours has a 7 on the bottom--sorry! You're probably drinking bisphenol-a, which unfortunately is most dangerous for the very old and very young. Check out the article on Canada's new ban below:

http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5215109782482807501

Yours in thinking of other ways to not buy plastic bottles,
-j.

School Busing

Here's a very interesting slideshow on controversy surrounding busing in Northeastern cities in the 1970s. It focuses on some jarring pictures taken during the era, and concludes with a picture taken during the immediate aftermath of Katrina that I hadn't seen, yet was powerfully moving.