Here's your chance not just to be the mayor, but the original city planner as well! Imagine a medium sized city that would be developed with modern, low carbon transportation in mind, and other strategies to reduce the average citizens' carbon footprints.
What would that city look like? Would that make you more likely to want to live there?
Sustainable City >
New Yorker Paid to Recyle
In New York, you can make money by returning your empty soda cans, beer bottles, and water bottles. Why? Because of the Returnable Container Act. This act states that a deposit of at least 5 cents must be made on soft drink container, beer bottles, wine coolers, and water bottles. When the empty and cleaned bottle is returned to the store, the deposit is given to the person, essentially paying him or her. In doing so, recycling is encouraged. Even though most deposits are going to be the minimum 5 cents, the idea of being reimbursed for doing something as small as returning empty bottles to a store will motivate most people. Since the act began, return rates for the bottles have been from 70-80 percent; imagine how much space has been saved in landfills and how many bottles have been recycled. Still, some argue that the deposits will increase the prices of drinks in an already expensive state. More information, including guidelines, are in http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/8833.html. Do you think that this is a good idea to build a sustainable city? Why? Why not?