The European Commission (EC) has filed a suit against Italy in the European Court of Justice. The EC thinks a lawsuit will clean up Naples, Italy, which has been enveloped in piles of trash and a toxic stench, as seen in the pictures below. The EC hopes that potential harsh fines will prompt politicians to take more serious action to end the massive years-long garbage crisis, brought on by organized crime.
Meanwhile in San Francisco, residents recycle 70 percent of their waste. Recycling-obsessed Mayor Gavin Newsom wants to give city residents an incentive to take their recycling prowess to the next level — either they recycle, or they don't get their trash picked up.
Mayor Newsom is proposing legislation that would make it mandatory to recycle cans, bottles, paper, yard waste, and food scraps. So it looks like recycling may no longer be something you do to feel good about yourself — it will be the law. Newsom told the New York Times what's behind his plan:
It’s purposefulness that could otherwise be construed as ego. You want to be the greatest city. You want to be the leading city. You want to be on the cutting edge. I’m very intense about it.
Should recycling be mandatory? Will the Newsom's proposal make San Francisco the next Naples, if residents get lazy about recycling? Can a lawsuit clean up Naples, or is it just a waste of time?
3.1 Phillip Lim
Liberty, you're getting so punny! Two in this post alone.
1I read somewhere that recycling paper is the only material that actually benefits the environment. Glass, aluminum and plastic actually use more energy to convert than they conserve. Is this propaganda or has anyone else heard this too?
2It is like Newsom and Castro are BFF's!
Racc, I have heard that about plastic, but not glass.
3Oh gees! Is it really that freakin hard to recycle? The city even provides the separate containers.
Anyone who can't aim and drop needs to go out and get a full physical right now.
4Hey, I have never lived in San Francisco and because of things like this probably never will. But, if it works for them, I'm all for them doing it. There are so many different communities with different concerns in the U.S.and what's good for one community might not be good for another; this is precisely why I like a lot of state and local control over things.
5It's amazing tha the mafia is causing a garbage problem lol. It's like in this day and age the mafia should be a dying institution and triads should be the big thing, mafia is so 80s but these people are still around running the show quietly.
6Aim and drop....huh hypno?
7I agree w/ Lilkimbo!
8Yes it does take more (energy) to convert glass, plastic, and aluminum than it takes to convert paper raciccarone. However, the point in this mater is to reduce physical waste which takes up physical space in our land fills.
I would much rather spend a little more energy to reduce physical waste than to continue producing more physical waste.
9Hypno do you know what sort of fuel they use to convert glass, plastic and aluminum, and how much pollution recycling plants produce? I am not being a smart ass, I really am curious the ratio of pollution production.
10Not sure cine I did watch a documentary on Discovery a while back but didn't retain enough information to give you any hard specifics.
Something to look into.
11people who don't want to recycle should be forced to live in garbage dumps.
12Yesteryear, I have lived in dumps and I have lived in crystal mansions with overflowing lemonade fountains. Let me tell you, recycling comes from the heart and not your laws.
13That sounds lovely. Overflowing lemonade fountains...I mean. And cupcakes....darn you cabaker!
14I'm getting my lemonade fountain installed this week! How did you know
15I almost started this post saying "correct me if I'm wrong" but I think that's redundant here
I live in DC. It's been the law to recycle here for a while I think. It's just not enforced at all.
16so how are they going to know if you are recycling or not? are they going to go through your garbage? if you don't have a certain quota of cans or glass in your bucket, they won't pick up your garbage?
and yeah, I'm sure you're going to influence the Italian mafia by bringing a lawsuit, and proposing legislation. They are so notoriously law-abiding.
17They do the recycling thing in Germany. You have to put your trash out in clear bags and if they see something that belongs in the recycling, they don't pick up your bag that day. I don't know if it was just the town we were in, or the whole of the country.
If the citizens vote for it and passes, then I think its okay.
18Naples has been trashy and smelly for decades.
19It's the plastics that may not be cost effective to recyle. The tin and other metals, and the paper are fine. The benefit is keeping them out of the landfill.
20I think it's smart to require recycling. It's easy to do, it's efficient, and as Janneth says, it keeps the crap out of landfills.
I've thought about composting to reduce my trash even more, but I worry about the stink.
21I've never been to Naples but I will attest to the fact that people here in SF are PIGS! Heck pigs are actually cleaner than the people here in SF. I volunteer to go to Naples and compare the two cities.
Walking down Market Street yesterday from Fourth to the Ferry Building I saw no less than ten people (all dressed in business attire) chuck their Starbucks coffee cups and other trash on to the ground or they spit on the sidewalk. DISGUSTING. Trash cans were just a few feet away from them and they weren't full and preventing usage. I've gotten so pissed at this situation that I now just walk down the street wearing gloves and picking up other people's litter because it makes me so angry that they are too stupid to not litter. My hope is that other people will follow suit and pick up litter whether its theirs or not too.
Moreover whenever I have visitors from SoCal they always ask what that horrible smell is when they get to SF. I have to admit to them that San Francisco smells like PISS. Like a huge nasty men's room. Then I have to assure them that they'll get use to it. Sadly they will.
22Wack, I'm sorry. I didn't think anyone would notice. I just assumed someone would pick it up. Me and my buddies are heavyweights and just don't have time to "do the receptacle thing". We also have a problem ... well, it's more of a fetish, for public expectoration. We're all trying to get our acts together. Sorry you had to see that.
23LOL! My room mate is from England and she goes up and calls people on that $#!+. She'll tell them too why are you going to throw it on the ground when you got a bloody trash can not ten feet away you f***** twat!
24Well Raciccarone I always allow adorable furry animals the freedom to do as they like. Especially ones dressed like little burglars.
You may also dig in my garbage if you like...there's always yummy stuff there.
25to quote a friend of mine "san francisco needs a bath". you're right - it smells! that's why i moved back to the east bay. it smells beautiful here.
26San Francisco needs more than a bath.
27UnDave35 you need a flea dip. LOL!
28I find this annoying. In my hometown, they made recycling into the world's most complicated process, where you have to sort everything into one of 18 catagories and follow a million procedures, such as cleansing it with some special mixture, and half the time they never show up to take it. I don't know if it is easier in most other places, but it's too complicated here. It's trash for heavens sake, not the crown jewels!
29I am a recycling freak, so making it a law would be no problem for me. On the contrary, I would even embrace it. If riding in a car with seat belts is a law, then what's wrong with this?
30Mmmm... lemonade sounds good right now!
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