G-8 goes green, sort of

Todd, Whitefish, Montana — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 15:57:52 GMT

...and the bag probably went to the landfill! This brings up the important point about recycling; infrastructure. Without all of the supporting people, processes and education, it will fail.

G-8 goes green, sort of

DM, Gloucester, MA — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 15:58:50 GMT

Our local supermarket gathered up shopping bags that were brought back for recycling. One of my kids went to work there and found out that they carry them to the back and toss them into the trash compactor. When it was pointed out to management, my child was fired. I now go out of my way to share the STAR market recycling program when I can.

G-8 goes green, sort of

Gordon Chamberlain, Toronto, Ontario — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 16:17:37 GMT

Talk about trivial as our political leaders again fail to deal with the destabilisation of our planet climate the reality of inefficient recycling system it not high on G8 agenda. The use of recycled snow might be usefull though. What about the big picture
The G8 has grown disfunctional with India and China being left out of the event. Why? who is served by this limited level of consultation?

G-8 goes green, sort of

Titus Sequeira, Toronto, Canada — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 16:32:20 GMT

Well, the author of this article brings us a point, sarcastically though, about "window dressing"!

My suggestion is that we (in the Western Countries) have surged ahead with better implementations of waste management/recycling and ought to bring the "EDUCATION" to the next level.

THe world needs that education and the time is now!

G-8 goes green, sort of

Kit, NJ — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 18:39:32 GMT

Classic... American restaraunts are great for that, as well. If it doesn't actually say it's being recycled, then you can bet the company's policy is to throw it straight in the trash.

G-8 goes green, sort of

Aaron Lecciones, Pasig City, Philippines — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 19:08:31 GMT

In the Philippines the situation was the same, you may want to segregate in schools and homes and elsewhere but when the trash guy comes to pick it up it all gets thrown into then same bin. However, nowadays we tend to advocate on-the-spot recycling, like left over food goes straight to the compost at the backyard garden or a nearby space of land, junk shops and the like collect plastics/scrap metal at the source (at home/school/office/mall/restaurant/etc) since it's also a livelihood for them, thus when the trash man comes less is picked up for delivery to the landfills. The best tactic is to simplify the recycling process so that it takes less time and brain, is convenient and practical.

G-8 goes green, sort of

James, Fuusa, Tokyo — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 22:50:36 GMT

In Japan they have people at the recycling plants and waste disposal facilities to manually seperate trash in to the categories. When you live in Japan asI do now they wont even take trash bags with the wrong things in them. Since that hotel was set up for foreigners they probably figured, and rightly so, that the trash would not be properly seperated. If people cannot tell whats combustable I.E. food, paper, wood and whats not, metal plastic, bottles, pots and pans, then how can they sit there and be smug about saving "mothe earth."

G-8 goes green, sort of

jane doe reno nv — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:35:11 GMT

snow stored in the basement? hummmm. wouldn't it be better to store it higher up as cold air sinks, natural convection as it were. oh g, to heavy. I wonder what the skiers think about their snow being taken for cooling purposes. kinda right up there with corn for biofuels. cows and people need the corn, not autos. where is the common sense these days?

G-8 goes green, sort of

jane doe reno, nv — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:56:42 GMT

I'm wondering how much it cost in gas to move all that snow and what happens to the water supply, natural life, trees, etc that need the water from all that snow.

G-8 goes green, sort of

Elaine Sanders, Olympia, WA — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:04:26 GMT

I was impressed about the snow for air conditioning- but I'm sure it was expensive & used fuel to be transported. We do, however, need this kind of thinking: Use what's already there, build systems that are stationary or use small amounts of energy to build & run. re: the recycling- we can do more here, & buying recycled end products will help fund the effort. The summit was a temporary situation & probably hadn't been set up for long- hence the maid's actions. It's a big example tho. We need to personally be responsible & speak up when we do see waste & recyclables headed for landfills. I was raised to conserve, reuse, not litter, & treat the earth with respect (in the 50's). It was always right, and now more than ever, it's vital!

G-8 goes green, sort of

Julius, Tokyo, Japan — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:07:04 GMT

Standard protocol for cleaning/maintenance people in Japan (hotels, offices, schools) is to separate the trash once collected. I suggest the author to follow the trash trail to provide a more accurate picture...or perhaps that's just something the author really doesn't care to see.

G-8 goes green, sort of

AM, Ladera Ranch, California — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 01:19:05 GMT

How much non-green energy used to transport the 7,700 tons of snow ?

G-8 goes green, sort of

Bob A., Monterey, TN — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 01:55:50 GMT

More information is needed in this article. There are sophisticated, leading-edge recycling technologies “out there” and, knowing the ingenuity of the Japanese culture, it’s seems highly unlikely that the country does not have at least what is available in Oregon. We lived in Oregon a couple of years ago and were amazed at the ease of recycling.

All plastics (except bags) numbers 1 thru 7, caps (usually not recyclable), aluminum cans, and tin cans are mixed together. Machines handle most of the separating and the balance is done by hand rapidly because there’s not much left to sort.

Caps end up in the garbage. Someday, someone will invent caps that are recyclable and manufacturers will stop buying cross-linked materials (not quite as bad as nuclear waste, but close).

Plastic bags (evil things!) have a separate bin and are handled by a different system.

All paper is mixed.

Cardboard, recycled differently because it’s corrugated, has separate bins.

Glass, no matter the color, was mixed.

Oregon has the simplest system I’ve heard or read about thus far and handled by far the most types of recyclables. It's the simplicity that makes the program work so well. The State also has a recycling program for computers and peripherals.

It’s a mystery that should be researched as to why this recycling set-up at the G8 was used if Japan does indeed have the most modern of recycling equipment.

G-8 goes green, sort of

Misa Rojo, Yomitan, Japan — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 06:22:24 GMT

The report is disheartening to say the least. We depend on a system to do away with the trash we make. In the end, we need to change the way we view our consumption habits from a priority of convenience to one of conservation. We need to learn to decrease the amount of trash we produce... Bring a hot/cold thermos where ever you go, refill at home or office (no plastic bottle trash). Don't buy single serving size foods, that just takes a little planning (less plastic trash to throw out). Bring your own eco-bag no matter what kind of shopping you're doing (less bags to throw away). Start a compost (less food trash). for starters.

G-8 goes green, sort of

Bethany D., Marietta (Atlanta), GA — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:18:03 GMT

Bob mentioned that plastic bottle caps are not recycleable and he is right. However, Aveda has started a new program and will take your plastic bottle caps and recycle them into new bottle caps. I have a small bin at work to collect these and take them to my local Aveda store.

G-8 goes green, sort of

jim — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 17:44:28 GMT

Sounds utterly ridiculous to me,if oil is in short supply why is virtually everything made from oil.i.e plastic bottles synthetic fibers,pharmacueticals,and the list goes on,they waste more on these scams,sending people chasing blindly than we could if all countries were held accountable for pollutants,real pollutants not carbon dioxide which plants use for photosynthesis,this so-called greening scam is nothing more than smoke and mirrors by politicians and bankers.