The $425 million facility expected to be built in St. Lucie County will use lightning-like plasma arcs to turn trash into gas and rock-like material. It will be the first such plant in the nation operating on such a massive scale and the largest in the world.

Supporters say the process is cleaner than traditional trash incineration, though skeptics question whether the technology can meet the lofty expectations.

The 100,000-square-foot plant, slated to be operational in two years, is expected to vaporize 3,000 tons of garbage a day. County officials estimate their entire landfill — 4.3 million tons of trash collected since 1978 — will be gone in 18 years.

The vapor that is collected will be sold as energy to the nearby Tropicana Products facility.

Geoplasma, the company running the show, says that the process is completely closed-loop and there are no emissions. The critics disagree:

"We’ve found projects similar to this being misrepresented all over the country," said Monica Wilson of the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives.

Wilson said there aren’t enough studies yet to prove the company’s claims that emissions will likely be less than from a standard natural-gas power plant.

She also said other companies have tried to produce such results and failed. She cited two similar facilities run by different companies in Australia and Germany that closed after failing to meet emissions standards.

"I think this is the time for the residents of this county to start asking some tough questions," Wilson said.

If the technology does what they say it does, it will be incredible. I do have my doubts on a technology that is touted as "perfect", however. Anyone seen anything about local resident reactions to the project?

Via – Sustainablog

(First photo: how it originally "came out of the baskets". Second photo: bags combined)

So, what have I learned?

1. No more fresh produce from Costco. As much as I think that my husband & I can finish a giant bag of broccoli from Costco, we can’t. I was filled with good intentions. Broccoli is so good for you. But I threw away almost an entire bag. So sad. So embarrassing to have to admit to the globe. Same goes for the 6 pack (or 8?) of giant portobello mushroom caps.

(Photo: All organic waste for 1 week. Potential to be composted.)

2. I really, really want to start composting. I’d do it any way that was available to me, which right now are zero ways.

3. Most of my trash comes from the kitchen. Between organic waste & product packaging, mostly from food, we create the majority of the household waste.

4. Product Packaging is a big deal. This is something that Melissa in LA is dealing with, too. We buy products that come in packages. So maybe we need to put a little more pressure on the industry to do two things. 1) Create less packaging, please! 2) Use materials that are typically recyclable.

(Photo: All (most) product packaging disposed of in one week.)

5. Paper comes from every direction. And I still don’t know what to do about all of it. I have a problem. I love to read. Miami has about a gazillion free publications, some weekly, some monthly. I love to read them. I learn from them. Yes, many have websites. No, I don’t enjoy reading off of the websites. No, I don’t know what to do with them after I’ve read them. It’s like the newspaper. It’s a completely different experience reading it on paper than it is online.

6. I (we) need to learn to say, "No, Thanks". No Thanks, I don’t need a bag with that. No Thanks I don’t need a brochure, I’ll look it up online. People hand out stuff everyday that is just garbage. We look at it for a second, or only use it for a second, and then this brand new item has just become garbage.

7. I need to find some courage to challenge the authorities. Through my Recycling Chronicles I have tried to find out more about why my building doesn’t recycle. I have no fear calling the city or the county with questions. Who do I fear? The property managers for the condo. Why? I don’t know, I’ve always been a ‘fraidy cat for certain things. I rent here, so I don’t pay maintenance fees, and I don’t pay these property managers. So I feel like it gives me no right to complain. But I have to find it in myself to really get to the bottom of this, directly with the source. Additionally, I think that I really need to talk with my commissioners, to try to make recycling a bigger deal, especially in the City of Miami.

8. Buy products made from recycled materials. From what I understand, if a municipality doesn’t recycle something that is, in fact, recyclable, it is because they do not have a buyer for that particular type of waste. If we recycle, but do not buy products made from recycled materials, we are not completing the circle and we are not creating demand for wholesale/industrial buyers of the materials.

(Photo: Of all of the trash, the only potential recyclables.)

9. Think twice before tossing it out…as if the whole world would know. I really thought about my trash this week. I even salvaged some things that were about to be trashed, and found some "reuse" for them. Throwing out trash should always be a conscious action, for all of us.

(Update 4/4/06: see all WoT posts, including links to Living Green in LA’s version)

Day 4 wasn’t so bad, but the house was basically empty. The trash shown above includes Day 3 trash as well. Yesterday’s big additions included the cardboard OJ box with spout, a glass pasta sauce jar, and the top of two bags (chips & cereal) that I cut off to make room in my food cupboard.

Week of Trash will continue through the weekend, but most likely it will continue without posts. Weekends in the Greener household are usually very unpredictable and leave little time for computers!

Stay tuned for my final results & analysis, to be delivered on Monday, or Tuesday at the latest. (If Tuesday, it will be for a good reason, will explain in separate post.)

Check out all Week of Trash posts:

Original WoT post

WoT Reminder

Preparation & Thoughts on Plastic Bags

Day 1 Kick-off

Day 1 Results

Day 2 Results

Day 3 Results

FINAL RESULTS (updated on March 19)

I mean, I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir here, but, WHAT? Who is raising these kids?

This isn’t the first time, either. Last month I was in Islamorada and saw a mother and three kids walking on the side of the road. One of the girls finished her drink and just tossed it into the bushes. Mom says nothing.

And even worse? I say nothing. I get upset, and say nothing.

How should we deal with litterbugs? How can we as individuals make a difference? Is it as simple as saying something? Would you say, "Please don’t litter" or "Please pick up your trash" or "Oops, you just dropped something"? Is it better to just go over and pick it up ourselves?

I could have filled at least three bags of trash today, just as I was walking around. Next time I’ll bring a bag and a glove and see what I wind up with. Keep Florida Beautiful recommends starting out by just picking up one piece of litter a day. (The KFB site is really quite disappointing.) Also, Baynanza is coming up soon, which finishes off a month of activities with Baynanza Biscayne Bay Cleanup Day on April 22. Sign up no later than April 3.

City of Miami litter link, Miami Dade County litter link

Update, March 15: Today I went walking with a plastic bag and glove in hand. I filled the bag, mostly with disposable cups. I certainly didn’t pick up every piece of trash I saw, but I would say the theme for today was disposable cups. Pollo Tropical, Starbucks, clear plastic, styrofoam, soda cans, beer cans, lids, straws, THREE CapriSuns (didn’t know they were still so popular). I also picked up an empty cigarette carton, paper bag, and a photocopy.

Imagine the difference I could make if I did just one bag every time I go for a walk. Imagine the difference we all could make if we just pick up a random piece of litter now and then.

We are a household of two adults, one of which is full-time at home. We live in a two-bedroom condo in Miami, FL. We are expecting guests this week, as well.

Previous Week of Trash posts: 1, 2, 3

Technorati tag: Week of Trash

See Recycling Chronicles, Part I

I just got off the phone with 3-1-1…but by using the long number, 305-468-5900. I think 311 doesn’t go through for me because I have Vonage as my phone provider. Anyway, I had needed to call to follow up on my Recycling questions, but my biggest motivation for calling was the poor little dead animal on the side of Brickell Ave. It’s been there for 3 days.

My hold time was about 3 minutes before someone picked up (very nice person, by the way). I told her about the animal, the location, my address, name, and phone number. She gave me a ticket number and said that Animal Control will be dispatched within 24 hours.

I then asked her about recycling – more specifically, trying to understand if condos are required to recycle, and if there is a place for me to recycle. She couldn’t really help me and referred me to Solid Waste, with whom I spoke in Part I of this series.

This time I’m really still at the same place that I started. Next time, in Part III, I either need to speak with my property manager again, or I will contact some recycling providers directly. (Other alternatives: try to catch the trash guys someday and chat and/or talk to my neighbors.)

Since I published my original post on the topic, I’ve been noticing everything that goes into my garbage at home. There goes a big OJ container, a bottle of wine, packaging from something I bought…and all the while, I’m thinking, "Ohhh, too bad, that would have looked good for Week of Trash."

Then I realized that every single day we had something that filled up the garbage can. And I’m sure it will be that way next week, as well, unfortunately.

Starting Monday I will hopefully be posting daily with an inventory of sorts, of what we tossed out. Also, I will take you all through the exciting journey of everything related to waste in my home and in my life.

Living in a condo, I have the ability to take out my trash everyday, which is really useful. However, I don’t think that we really get a good feel for how much waste we are producing. I will be trying my best to keep my trash for one whole week, in order to determine the overall volume. Additionally, my organic waste right now typically goes straight into the trash…but only because I have the ability to toss it out everyday. Living in Florida, you can’t let organic waste sit around – it’s too hot and gross. So, following my family tradition, next week I will take to freezing all organic waste, so that it doesn’t become too much of a nuisance. Who knows where I’ll put the rest of the trash, since I’m expecting guests for almost the entire week. Maybe the balcony?

Stay tuned next week for my Week of Trash, and participate if you’d like!

Technorati tag: Week of Trash

Here’s the deal…

Project Title: Week of Trash

Purpose: Be able to visually look at the amount of trash/waste a household produces in a week. Hoping that this will lead to some sort of revelation or changes in habits.

More on why: Recently, when I was living in Queretaro, Mexico, my community started recycling. I realized that by the time I separated everything that was for recycling, I was left almost completely with organic waste. It seems that if I could do compost, my household waste would be reduced to almost zero. I want to take a good hard look at what my trash looks like here in Miami, and hope that it will bring me to find ways to improve.

Dates: Monday, March 13 – Sunday, March 19 (If it works out better to shift the days around a bit, according to trash pick-up, feel free to do so.)

How to Participate:

1. Empty all trash from home (from all rooms) immediately before beginning project.
2. Do not empty trash until the end of the 7th day. OR if you empty the trash, take a picture of the waste disposed of.
3. At the end of the 7th day, gather up all of the trash from the home, including trash cans in bathrooms, kitchen, bedrooms, etc. Take photos of the trash – in amount, and if you would like to show what the trash looks like, that is great.
4. If recycle, be sure to separate the items and show us the amount of trash vs. recyclables.
5. Write a short commentary including: people in your household (# adults / # kids), type of home (single-family, condo, etc), city, interesting circumstances of the week (visitors, out of town, party, spring cleaning, etc), and anything else about your experience, learnings, epiphanies, etc!
6. Post the commentary with photos on your blog, or send it to me via email and I will post. Add Technorati Tag: Week of Trash
7. Publish a comment on GreenerMiami with a link to your post.

What GreenerMiami Will Do: During the Week of Trash, I hope to provide daily updates. At the end of the project I plan to separate the trash to be able to estimate proportions of what it is made up of. As I’ve stated before, I do not have an option to recycle, so it all goes in the trash. I hope to change that in the future.

I’m interested in any suggestions before we start this project. Also, if anyone wants to pledge to join me, please leave a comment! Feel free to seek participants by creating a post on your own sites or talking to your friends.

Week of Trash

Only having arrived in Miami in July, I didn’t understand the difference, at first, between the City of Miami jurisdiction and Miami-Dade County jurisdiction. Therefore, I first researched the Solid Waste section of the Miami-Dade website and found that condos in Miami-Dade county MUST recycle. However, I am coming to realize that since I am a resident of the City of Miami, I have different rules.

At first I tried to call 311, Miami’s information service for local government services. Calling from my home phone, I received a recording that says that 311 was not available for my phone number and/or zip code. Now visiting the site, I see that I can dial 305-468-5900 as an alternative.

But after the original 3-1-1 number failed, I contacted the City of Miami’s Solid Waste Department at (305) 575-5107. I explained that I live in a condo, larger that 4 units, and my condo does not provide a recycling service – is there a place that I can bring my recyclable products? I was given a phone number for a private waste collection service, which would be more appropriate if I was a property manager, not a resident. I tried to clarify – is there a place I can drop-off my items? The answer: No. I also asked – is there a law that requires condos to recycle? The answer: No.

Hmmm. I’m no closer to a solution than I was when I woke up this morning. In Recycling Chronicles, Part II, I’ll try 311 again, using the alternative number.