By Harriet Blake
Green Right Now
Plant a tree. A simple environmental concept. Trees absorb many of the toxins produced by today’s global warming. They add beauty to the landscape.
In the Big Apple, Mayor Bloomberg’s parks department has teamed with Bette Midler’s nonprofit New York Restoration Project to create MillionTreesNYC. (Midler founded the NYRP in 1995.)
MillionTreesNYC, which began in the fall of 2007, pledges to plant a million trees in New York City by 2017. The initiative will help New York City increase its trees by 20 percent. This includes street trees, park trees as well as trees located on public, private and commercial land.
Director Cristiana Fragola says the concept was a simultaneous effort by both the city and the Midler group. The plan is to have the city plant 60 percent of the trees in parks and public spaces. Private community groups will plant the rest.
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Can plastic bag charges generate change?
By Harriet Blake
By now, most people are familiar with the ubiquitous bright green (and blue and pink) totes that supermarkets are touting to replace hard-to-recycle plastic bags.
Many customers dutifully carry them to and from grocery shopping each week, often receiving 3 to 4 cents in return. But what about those folks who are less conscientious?
Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City has a solution: charge shoppers six cents for each plastic bag they use. The mayor’s proposal is a work in progress, but environmental groups are pleased.
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Tags: · Chico bags, Dallas, Los Angeles, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York City, plastic bags, reusable totes, Seattle
