RE: [GRRN] waste reduction article in 9 July 2000 SF Chronical ne wspaper

From: Heide Feldman (hfeldman@mrwmd.org)
Date: Mon Jul 10 2000 - 12:34:03 EDT

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    The article in the Chronicle raised a lot of worthwhile issues. However, on
    the topic of reduced ridesharing, it didn't speak to the true problem: the
    California rideshare mandatory rideshare program, which blossomed in the
    80s, was scrapped in the 90s by Gov. Wilson. Under the program, which was
    related to state air quality measures, each company with more than 100
    employees had to have a rideshare plan and a rideshare coordinator in place.
    The entire infrastructure was set up and worked very well. "Transportation
    System Management" plans were created and implemented, employers offered
    incentive programs like free bus passes and preferential parking to get
    people out of their cars. Specialized consultants taught classes and
    trained new rideshare coordinators. All this went away over night when the
    program was dropped by the state.

    Just a thought: what would happen if AB 939 was removed as mandatory state
    law? The article speaks about all of us now filling up our recycling cans,
    and the need to go beyond this "basic" step. We'd soon be back to ground
    zero (not "zero waste") if there wasn't an entire infrastructure in every
    city to support recycling programs, pushed along by the "50% by 2000"
    incentive. Let's not be too cavalier about "just" recycling.

    Heidi Feldman
    Public Education Coordinator
    Monterey Regional Waste Management District
    Tel.: 831/384-5313 FAX: 831/384-3567

    When we tug at a single thing in nature, we find it attached to the rest of
    the world.
    John Muir



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