Recycling – Belmont Citizens Forum

Profiles in Belmont: Dean Hickman

Environment, July/August 2023, Newsletter, Recycling Comments Off

Jun 302023

By Elissa Ely Before he became chair of Sustainable Belmont, before the PhD in pharmacogenetics, before moving to the United States, certainly before any awareness of the environmental needs of a Massachusetts town next to Cambridge, Dean Hickman was picking up litter. “Have been picking up trash anywhere I go since I could walk,” his Instagram says. Growing up in farm country west of London, traveling the footpath systems, Dean took the “Keep Britain Tidy” campaign of the 1960s to heart. Many decades later, on a late rainy afternoon when he could have been enjoying a mug of tea, we [READ MORE]

We Need to Enforce Waste Bans

Environment, November 2022, Recycling Comments Off

Oct 312022

By Janet Domenitz and Morgan Molloy Creating positive change for our climate in everyday life can be daunting, but there are ways we in the Commonwealth can make progress in the here and now. Reducing the waste we discard in landfills and incinerators reduces pollution and climate emissions. One key to reducing waste disposal is enforcing our decades-old waste ban regulations. Of the 5.6 million tons of waste we dispose of in Massachusetts each year, approximately two million tons (~40%) are banned from landfills and incinerators by Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) regulations. Some examples of banned materials are [READ MORE]

How Can Belmont Reduce Single-Use Plastics?

Environment, January 2022, Newsletter, Recycling Comments Off

Jan 042022

How Can Belmont Reduce Single-Use Plastics?

By Vincent Stanton, Jr. The United States generates more plastic waste than any other country in the world: 42 million tons, or 286 pounds per person, in 2016. That includes plastic waste the US exports to other countries with weak recycling systems (see links at end of article for details). Plastic waste lasts a long time and has many noxious effects (See “Think Twice About Single-Use Plastics,” Belmont Citizens Forum Newsletter, November 2021). The Massachusetts legislature, a recycling leader in 1981 when it passed the “bottle bill” over Governor Ed King’s veto, has become a laggard. (See “Time To Pass [READ MORE]

Time To Pass An Updated Bottle Bill

Environment, January 2022, Newsletter, Recycling Comments Off

Jan 032022

By Janet Domenitz and Julia Blatt We need to stop kicking the can down the road. Since its passage nearly 40 years ago, the bottle bill has created a successful recycling program in Massachusetts. But time is catching up to the law, and it needs updating to deliver the best results. A lot has changed in Massachusetts since the original bottle bill was established in 1983. First, our waste problem has worsened. According to the new Trash in America report released by MASSPIRG and other regional public interest groups, the average American throws out nearly 1,800 pounds of trash each [READ MORE]

Think Twice About Single-Use Plastics

Environment, Newsletter, November-December 2021, Recycling, Water Quality Comments Off

Nov 012021

By Lindsay Levine and Dean Hickman Envision the life-cycle of a single-use plastic item. Oil or natural gas is extracted from the ground, transported, chemically transformed into plastic which is then manufactured, transported to the point of sale, briefly used, and then tossed into the garbage. But it does not end there. Because of their durability, plastics last for hundreds of years and do not degrade meaningfully over your entire lifetime, except perhaps break into smaller pieces. Now imagine that same process repeated for many of the items we use daily. Have you ever counted the number of single-use plastic [READ MORE]

The Litter Guy Cleans Up Belmont

Environment, Newsletter, Recycling, Sept/Oct 2020 Comments Off

Sep 032020

By Patrick O’Dougherty Photos by Mary Bradley As a boy, I became aware of seeing litter almost everywhere. Among the many things we did and learned about as Boy Scouts was public service. Picking up litter was one of our services. In the 1970s, a targeted ad campaign seemed to diminish the amount of litter in public spaces. Adulthood has taken me in many different directions, and litter wasn’t something about which I thought. About 20 years ago, I fell in love with cycling and I began to notice litter again. Lots of it. Apparently, litter is back. My memories [READ MORE]

Changing Economics Alter Belmont’s Recycling

Environment, May/June 2020, Newsletter, Recycling Comments Off

May 032020

Changing Economics Alter Belmont's Recycling

By Terri Goldberg According to the US EPA, in 2017, the latest year for which they have published data, the United States recycling and composting rate was about 35%. The country’s recycling rate has been stuck in the low- to mid-30 percent range since the early 2000s in spite of the extensive efforts to improve it. In part, the recycling system has been working to keep up with the changes in the materials generated by households, businesses, and institutions. Over the past decade, the composition of municipal solid waste has been evolving away from newsprint, office paper, and glass containers [READ MORE]

Paper Bag Fee Would Reduce Emissions

March/April 2020, Newsletter, Recycling Comments Off

Mar 022020

By Rahul Ramakrishnan As a lifelong Belmont resident and Belmont High School alum, I take pride in Belmont’s forward-thinking mind-set and commitment to the environment. As a senior at MIT studying materials science, I have had the opportunity to learn about the diversity in production and policy surrounding the materials that make up our world. Recently, I thought about how I could use what I have learned to keep Belmont on an environmentally conscious trajectory, and an idea popped up. Problems with Plastic—and Paper For the last many years, we have repeatedly been told that paper bags are better for [READ MORE]

May/June 2019 Belmont Citizens Forum Newsletter & PDF

BCF Events, Construction and Housing, Environment, Lone Tree Hill, May/June 2019, Newsletter, Open Space, Plants, Recycling, Traffic, Volunteer, Water Quality Comments Off

May 062019

View or download the May/June 2019 issue as a color PDF here, or read single articles below. Articles in this issue: New Plans for McLean Land Density is key issue as town considers proposals for two McLean campus parcels By Sue Bass Twenty years ago, Belmont voted to allow development on McLean Hospital land on Belmont Hill. Now McLean is coming back to the town with new proposals for two parcels of land that are still undeveloped. Read more. Composting in Belmont: Breaking it Down By Mary Bradley Composting is no longer just a backyard hobby for the ardent gardener. [READ MORE]

Composting in Belmont: Breaking it Down

Environment, May/June 2019, Newsletter, Plants, Recycling Comments Off

May 062019

By Mary Bradley A Virtuous Cycle Composting is no longer just a backyard hobby for the ardent gardener. It has Facebook groups and a following from environmentalists, politicians, and scientists. Most praise compost as a means to keep food waste out of landfills and reduce release of methane. While consensus ends there, composting has evolved from a tale of worms, microbes, and bacteria to the realm of politics, emerging technologies, and scientific disputes. For me, however, composting is about magic: Wave one hand over an orange peel clutched in your other hand, and reveal a fistful of dirt. If that’s [READ MORE]

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