County Works with Cities to Stop Hazardous Pollution
When new laws are passed, cities and counties have to comply as well as you and me. To help local government agencies abide by new "universal waste" regulations, San Mateo County's Division of Environmental Health held a workshop for about 100 municipal employees on August 10. Universal or "u-wastes" include batteries, fluorescent light tubes and all mercury-containing products. Topics covered in the workshop included how to deal with roadside abandoned waste, emergency response generated waste and waste minimization.
"A municipality has to comply with the new u-waste law, just like a business or a resident does," explains Susan Hiestand, Hazardous Material Specialist in the San Mateo County Environmental Health Division.
On the value of the meeting from a City employee's point of view, Laura Galli, Assistant Engineer for the City of Foster City declared, "Now I have the resources I need to help residents and the city comply with this new law."
RethinkWaste salutes the Division of Environmental Health for helping to ensure that we're all doing our part to reduce pollution in our community.
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Somber Anniversary a Time to Take Stock of Waste
Hurricane Katrina Blew Away Previous Debris Records
It's a year after Hurricane Katrina devastated the southern coastline of the United States. According to a recent report to the U.S. Congress, disaster debris generated as a result of the hurricane and resulting flooding may wind up being over 100 million cubic yards. To get an idea of how big that is, that's two and half times more than the previous U.S. record, set by Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
Surprisingly many have found opportunity in this bleak situation — a chance to rebuild with greener principles in mind this time around. One such optimistic group is the Mississippi Renewal Forum — a commission assembled by the governor's office to help the state recover sustainably.
One of the 11 cities targeted by the Forum is Pass Christian — a city "adopted" by our own San Carlos after the hurricane. Pass Christian was one of the first to implement the Renewal Forum's SmartCode. The SmartCode aims, among other things, to support conservation of open lands, transportation options, and walkable neighborhoods. It's designed to prevent "wasteful sprawl development, loss of open space, monotonous subdivisions, and car-dominated streets."
For more information about the recovery in Pass Christian, visit one of the resources below:
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