New York City is truly transforming itself into a 21st century leader, embracing nature and the concept of zero waste.
In nature, there is no waste or unemployment. Everything eats and all life is interdependent.
On Earth Day, New York City’s Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city intends on phasing out landfills by 2030.
Over 30 city businesses have pledged to cut the amount of trash they create and send to landfills by half this year. ABC/Disney, Anheuser-Busch, Citi Field, Barclays Center and the Waldorf are among 31 firms that signed onto the “zero waste challenge.”
These companies have committed to reduce their waste by at least 50 percent, and some are aiming for a 90 percent reduction.
The reduction measures the companies began in February include composting, reducing packaging, repurposing and donating food that otherwise is thrown away, using reusable mugs and glasses rather than disposable bleached paper cups and bottles, and switching to digital, instead of paper, record keeping.
So far, according to the mayor’s office, businesses have already reduced their landfill waste by 13,000 tons and composted over 4,000 tons.
In addition to reducing landfill waste, earlier this year, New York City reached their goal, two years ahead of schedule, by planting the one millionth tree — an eight-year-old, 25-foot-tall lacebark elm.
Those one million trees will help future-proof New York City in the face of the climate crisis by absorbing rising air pollutants and reducing temperatures during heat waves by at least 10 degrees Fahrenheit.
Congratulation to the Big “green” Apple!
Earth Doctor Reese Halter is the author of “The Incomparable Honeybee & the Economics of Pollination.”