It turns out that recycling a mayor doesn't lead to an increase of recycled waste. According to DNAinfo, the percentage of the city's waste that has been recycled has fallen from 19% in 2002 to 15% in 2011. Naturally, those Chaco-wearing patchouli-huffers out west are eating our lunches (then recycling the waste). Seattle and Portland have rates over 50%, while San Francisco's rate soared to 77% in 2009, no doubt on the success of converting plastic bottles and highlighters into bongs. more ›

In yet another installment of pick-a-public-servant's brain on Reddit, a Sanitation Department worker is asked the question that has plagued many a wrinkled nose: "Why is Chinatown always twice as dirty as the rest of Manhattan?" After a gentle attempt at parrying ("Do I really need to explain that?") the worker responds, "Just a lot of filthy people down there. That's the best explanation I can give. I don't think it matters how hard they work to try and keep it clean." more ›

Have you come across The Swap-O-Matic yet? It's a vending machine art project that travels around Brooklyn, allowing users to exchange goods without exchanging money. Its utopian sense of "value" is similar to websites like Thingheap—only with a neat retro '50s logo! Check out a promo video below. more ›

Sitting at home staring at the menu screen of your Matrix Revolutions DVD and ordering another chimichanga isn't just hurting your sex life, it's hurting the environment. The Times takes aim at the take out containers that comprise some of the city's 14 million tons of waste each year, and finds New Yorkers torn between convenience and guilt. "There's nothing I can do," a 25-year-old accountant tells the paper while eating from one of those ubiquitious plastic containers. "It annoys me. It's plastic in a landfill." But not as annoying as packing your lunch in a reusable container. more ›

Earth-friendly New Yorkers that drink beer at sporting events out of aluminum bottles are not only likely to yell at someone before the night is over, they also happen to be breaking the law. According to an obscure 1982 law, called The Bottle Law, aluminum bottles are technically illegal in New York. more ›

The Daily News is all over this subway eating debate, following up today with an article examining the enforcement, or lack thereof, of litterbugs. In discussing a possible subway food ban earlier this week, an MTA board member blamed the system's rat and track fire problem to food-related litter. But the MTA seems torn over whether to outlaw underground eating, and in the meantime, they're having a harder time cleaning up after all these animals. more ›

Recently Brokelyn went on a wild goose chase for loose change in Brooklyn, determined to find out how much one can earn from trolling the city for bottles and cans. Recycling those items, after all, is like looking under the couch cushions of all of New York City—if you don't mind picking through trash, you can probably earn some sweet bucks, right? The site reports back after their well-documented journey, with this final tally): more ›

The Department of Sanitation intends to make an example of a Staten Island man who tried to horn in on their turf by collecting recyclables from benefactors along his paper route. Poor Anthony McCorkle is trying to make ends meet by delivering the Staten Island Advance with the help of his brother's Hyundai. Some of his customers know he's in a tough spot, and they let him take the recyclable bottles in the bins outside their residence. But McCorkle is not a trained Department of Sanitation worker, and on Friday morning he was busted with a car full of contraband. more ›

Victory! After subjecting American consumers—famous for their sensitive hearing—to the annoying crinkling of their 100% compostable Sun Chips bags, the Frito-Lay company has decided to discontinue the bags and go back to their non-recyclable, landfill-clogging packaging. Never doubt that a small group of dedicated people with a Facebook page can change the world—take a bow "Sorry But I Can’t Hear You Over This SunChips Bag!" Maybe now you can do something about those awful wind farm eyesores! more ›

Did you know it's illegal to pick up discarded items on the sidewalk if you're driving a vehicle at the time? Paul Lawrence was recently fined $2,000 for picking up an air conditioner on a sidewalk in Middle Village, Queens—turns out that even though he was told he could take it from a woman at the building, the item was officially city property once it was set on the ground. more ›

A Brooklyn building owner was recently fined $25 for putting recyclables in a black trash bag designated for non-recyclables. Problem is: there were no recyclables in that trash bag. Tony Scott told Fox 5 News that his surveillance camera caught the Department of Sanitation worker walking on the sidewalk and simply kicking trash bags before writing up tickets. His ticket read: "did observe metal cans, unsoiled paper, and cereal boxes out for collection in 1 black plastic bag non-designated for any recyclables." But he the worker never even opened the bag, which could mean the agency is walking around giving out undeserved tickets. more ›

A veteran city sanitation man is taking out the non-recycling trash! According to the NY Post, 45-year-old Randolph Garcia struck a Brooklyn man over the head with a shovel when he tried to sneak some recyclable cardboard boxes into a regular trash truck one recent morning. Before resorting to violence, he warned the man to take the recyclable items out of the truck—but the story drops off between that detail and the shovel pummeling. Currently the man is in stable condition at the Brookdale Hospital, and Garcia was arrested and is facing possible suspension. Might be time to study up on those new recycling rules. more ›

New Yorkers kind of suck at the whole recycling thing, so maybe some changes to the program will help out. The Daily News reports that the City Council is proposing "the largest expansion of the city's recycling program since it began 21 years ago." Under the new plan public recycling bins will be added to sidewalks, bins for donated clothes will be placed around the city, a hazardous material program would be brought in, and more plastics would become a part of curbside recycling. All the changes would hardly cost the city a thing, according to City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who says the expanded program will cut the amount of trash the city pays to dump. more ›

A perfect storm of holidays and, well, winter storms means that certain parts of the Upper East Side haven't had a recycling pickup in nearly three weeks, according to broker-blogger Andrew Fine. "Alright, it's not the 17 day garbage strike of 1981, or of 1975, or 1968, but the mountains of garbage on the Upper East Side today may give you flashbacks!" he wrote. He hopes the mounds of trash will be hauled away by the end of the week, but there's a chance it will snow Thursday night and Friday, so anything could happen. At least it gives Upper East Side residents a reason to be thankful for the frigid temperatures, which ought to be keeping the stench from getting too out of hand. more ›

Police have linked a bloody handgun found inside a trashcan with last week's Upper West Side triple homicide — but they haven't been able to conclude how it got there. Investigators revealed yesterday that they found a .380-caliber Beretta between garbage bags about 20-feet from the place where Hector Quinones fell to his death after shooting Carlos Rodriguez Sr., Carlos Rodriguez Jr. and stabbing 87-year-old Fernando Gonzales in a dispute over drugs. more ›

Those recyclables you're throwing away in the designated recycling bins at city parks... well, they're probably just going straight to the landfills. The NY Post reports that during their investigation they found that "not only are routine recyclables like bottles, cans and paper being sent to landfills, but so is other waste that is supposed to be trashed separately, such as animal carcasses, medical waste and bins of used kitchen oil." Who goes to the park to throw away their animal carcasses? Those are for the East River! more ›

Starting this coming Saturday, bottled water drinks will be subject to a nickel deposit—and the NY State government will be able to collect millions from the unclaimed deposits. Governor Paterson said, "The expansion of this legislation not only provides our State with much-needed revenue, but will also help us to keep our neighborhoods and parks clean." more ›

With recent recycling stats released by the Department of Sanitation, we now know which neighborhood gets a (100% biodegradable) gold star for cleaning up after themselves. The Daily News pits the top two, Bay Ridge and Park Slope, against each other — saying when it comes to recycling the former does it better. more ›

Even with those handy little illustrated tip sheets on how to separate ones recycling from trash, New Yorkers are still confused! Or lazy. Or living in cramped quarters. The Daily News reports that we're throwing recyclables in the regular trash over half the time. Some blame confusion, while others point out there's simply not enough space in cramped NYC living quarters to have a separate container for everything. more ›

The future used to be in plastics, but now it's cardboard. While you were in some office hustling to make an honest buck, a team of freewheeling thieves were raking in $1,000 a night intercepting cardboard left out for recycling... and recycling it themselves. Apparently, there's big money in those brown boxes, and now we're really kicking ourselves for not hoarding more. Yesterday Queens District Attorney Richard Brown announced the arrest of eight men involved in the recycling ring; according to Brown they worked in two-man teams, stealing 1-ton bales of cardboard that companies had left out for private carters. That's unlawful, and the city has been trying to crack down on perpetrators for years. Speaking to reporters, Brown revealed that "for the price of renting a box van, each team could net close to $1,000 a night by bringing the stolen cardboard to a recyclable transfer station," Brown said. The value of recyclables is soaring these days, and cardboard's risen as high as $75 per ton! In June, an East Side grocery store manager was held-up at knife point for his cardboard, and cops later busted the thieves in a truck loaded with 37 bundles worth $5,550 when sold to recycling centers. more ›

A new city ordinance is set to take effect on July 31st requiring electronics companies to go door-to-door to pick up e-waste for recycling. Naturally, the industry is fighting it and plans to file a lawsuit against the city to stop the requirement; the Consumer Electronics Association says it will cost the industry $200 million annually. Companies would also have to pay fines starting at $50,000 if they don't recycle enough of their goods. ToteVision's president Bill Taraday tells Daily Finance he's "extremely alarmed" by the nationwide rise in electronic recycling laws, because if this kind of legislation is passed in all 50 states, "we wouldn't be in business." Some had expected a New York state bill to supersede the local mandate, but that died on the vine in Albany. City Councilman Bill DeBlasio, who sponsored the NYC bill, calls it a "national model," but the Wall Street Journal deems it "particularly controversial" because it requires companies to provide free, door-to-door pickup of e-waste, in addition to recycling costs. Here's more on electronics recycling, which will be mandatory for all city residents starting July 2010. more ›

With the population of the city steadily growing, how are New Yorkers somehow throwing out less trash? No one seems to be able to figure out why, yet the amount of garbage and recyclables picked up by sanitation workers has been going down over each of the last four years. Reasons speculated behind the drop include a move away from glass bottles, an increase in the usage of garbage disposals in homes and even less periodicals being left on curbs due to the decline in print journalism (read all about it here on the Post's website). But experts say that none of those factors are significant enough to warrant the 7% drop in trash since 2005. Even the head of the Department of Sanitation can't wrap his head around it. Commissioner John Doherty said, "How can New York City be growing and our tonnage is going down? The fact of the matter is that's what's happening. It's amazing." more ›

A Bay Ridge super is looking for a new job and place to live after new building owners ousted him following some bad press. The Daily News deemed Richard Martin "the crankiest super in New York" earlier this year after he would leave his building's garbage cans on the roof to teach tenants a lesson about improper sorting. He was also known for the angry signs he would leave up calling residents of the building "morons" and "retarded." (When not making colorful signs, Martin also decorated his door with a poster of infamous DA, now TV's "Judge" Jeanine Pirro.) Some residents stick up for Martin despite his antics as a good super and a nice guy who people like to rile up. Martin blames his firing on the News for painting him in such a bad light that the new owners (of Russian descent) let him go. "Fourteen years, 9-1/2 months. The new landlord figured I was too much trouble. You know, Russian people don't mess around," he told the paper. more ›

New York City's eight-plus million residents just got 33 new public places where they can recycle their rubbish, Mayor Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced at a press conference yesterday in City Hall Park. The new locations are an expansion of a pilot public recycling program that started in March 2007, when 126 blue and green recycling cans were placed in high traffic areas at 10 sites, finally giving New Yorkers' the chance to do in public what they're required by law to do at home. more ›

The Parks Department will be salvaging various parts of Shea Stadium for use in other park facilities--and the Daily News sums it up, "Parts of Shea will keep on Flushing." Toilets, urinals, sinks, lights, doors, soap dispensers and other supplies will be removed and kept on hand for future needs in rec centers, park bathrooms, etc. The Parks Department's Shea director even pointed out that the orange stall dividers "can be painted different colors...From a technical standpoint, a light fixture that's five years old is just as good as a light fixture that's new. These fixtures have a replacement cost of $500, so it's a home run for us." more ›

Facing a veto threat from Mayor Bloomberg on an electronic waste recycling bill, the City Council is removing part of the bill that would require manufacturers to collect for recycling a portion of the electronic goods they sell in the city or face fines. While Bloomberg is generally in favor of the recycling bill, he contends the provision places an unfair burden on manufacturers. more ›

At this point, it's hard to tell whether Ed Begley, Jr. is more famous for his decades of acting or his decades of environmentalism. Sure, he's logged over 200 appearances on stage, film and television, including his Emmy-winning breakout role on St. Elsewhere and his priceless turn on Arrested Development. But his funniest performance is arguably his self-effacing cameo as a hardcore green activist in the classic 1999 Simpsons episode "Homer to the Max", in which he's shown driving a nonpolluting go-cart powered by his "own sense of self-satisfaction." Off screen, he's embraced this role of ardent environmentalist with an infectious positivity and seemingly tireless commitment to reducing his own impact on an increasingly injured ecosystem. The many green improvements to his largely solar powered, energy efficient home have been documented in the amusing and informative reality show Living With Ed, and now a newly published book offers a wide range of changes readers can implement to make their lifestyles more sustainable. Called Living Like Ed, it's as inspiring as it is handy, and Begley will be at the Strand bookstore at 7pm tonight for a reading and book signing organized by Environmental Defense. more ›

The City Council may have passed an electronics recycling law recently, but Mayor Bloomberg says it's lame and illegal! more ›

The best way to reuse plastic bags is to let your young children play with them! They make wonderful and amusing toys. A great favorite of all children is playing 'Spaceman', using a plastic bag as a make believe Flash Gordon style helmet!