Calling all (Zero) Waste Advocates,
In NYC, the City is planning for the next 20 years and so are the
people. Our Zero Waste Resolution will be heard, everyone is encouraged
to testify in person and/or submit written testimony. I will submit all
written testimony emailed to me (<mailto:own@no.address>own@no.address) as
a MSWord attachment (preferably on your organizational letterhead) or PDF
attachment by 9 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on April 20th. Testimony may
be as simple as one or two paragraphs or may offer a paragraph in support
of the resolution in NYC and a previous article or report that your
organization has written (i.e. GRRN's Zero Waste packets - thanks David
et. al. they came in the mail).
The Zero Waste Resolution (174 -
<http://www.council.nyc.ny.us/textfiles/Res
0174-2004.htm>http://www.council.nyc.ny.us/textfiles/Res%200174-2004.htm)
and the Bigger Better Bottle Bill Resolution (144 -
<http://www.council.nyc.ny.us/textfiles/Res
0144-2004.htm>http://www.council.nyc.ny.us/textfiles/Res%200144-2004.htm)
will be heard together by the Sanitation and Solid Waste Committee of the
NY City Council in Council Chamber at 1 p.m. on April 20th.
The Zero Waste Resolution is part of a concerted effort to move forward a
major change in the thinking of how waste is dealt with in NYC. In early
May - a Plan, an educational & outreach piece and a campaign is expected
to be launched. The report will present a comprehensive plan for Zero
Waste by 2024 entitled Why Waste NYC? The People's Plan for Zero
Waste. The Plan's proposals are prescriptive in the short-term and more
flexible in the medium to long-term years. To date participation has come
from a broad spectrum of groups including the environmental community,
academia, community-based organizations and other waste advocates -
including close to 50 organizations in all (some of which are in turn
coalitions in their own right). At this point both the central staff of
the NY City Council and the NYC Economic Development Corporation have been
interested and responsive to early discussions.
The hearing will likely draw a number of beverage distributors and small
grocers/bodega owners to speak against the bottle bill. We look forward
to the broad range of testimonies for the Zero Waste that any/all of you
may offer.
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A reminder that in New York City, NYPIRG will be holding the NYC Bottle
Bill Hike on April 17th and 18th, leading up to Earth Day Lobby Day in Albany
on the 19th, and the City Council's hearing on Res. No. 144 (Koppell),
endorsing
the Bigger Better Bottle Bill, on Tuesday April 20th at 1 p.m. It's going
to be a busy week!
For more info. on these issues please contact Laura Haight
<mailto:lhaight@no.address>lhaight@no.address in Albany
or Susan Craine <mailto:scraine@no.address>scraine@no.address in NYC
212.349.6460.
Maggie Clarke, Ph.D.
mclarke@no.address
Environmental Scientist and Educator
http://geography.hunter.cuny.edu/~mclarke/index.html
New York City
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