15.10.07

F I R S TP R E V639NEXTLAST

Sneaker Recycling, San Francisco
OK here's how it goes, Northern California comes up with an environmental law or ordinance, the rest of the country makes fun of it but within a few years it is a common practice nationwide. Berkeley was the pioneer in curbside recycling ("Crazy!"). In 1990 San Luis Obispo, California became the first city in the world to ban indoor smoking at all public places, including bars and restaurants ("Insane!"). A few years later San Francisco became the first U.S. city to collect food scraps citywide for composting ("Outrageous!"). In 2006 San Francisco banned two common toxic chemicals, phthalates and bisphenol-A, from children’s toys and feeding products ("Lunacy!").

Now, just this March San Francisco banned the use of traditional plastic grocery bags ("Commies!"). Not surprisingly the ban has come under ridicule from the usual sources. However this single move will reduce local landfills by 200 million bags, items that take 1,000 years to dissolve. So next time you read what those wacky tree-huggers out in the Bay Area just enacted, you might be glimpsing the future.
[ MAP G-15 ]


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