Ruby Sinreich's blog

Kudos to Hillsborough Hog Day for trying to go (almost) garbage-free! I wonder if Chapel Hill would try this for FestiFall?

"Our goal is waste minimization, reducing waste in the first place and composting and recycling as much as we can," said Muriel Williman of Orange County's Solid Waste Management Department and a Hog Day Committee member. "While some trash is expected, we would like to reduce waste by 75-80 percent, even 90 percent. With everyone's help, we can."

Visitors should expect to see vendors serving on paper plates and bowls, or using wax paper to wrap food. Vendors will also be using biodegradable utensils (made from corn, potato or wheat starch) though most people will not even notice the difference. The goal is to be able to compost as much as possible. Any plastic utensils, film, condiment packets or other plastic can contaminate the compost collection.

Yesterday's Chapel Hill News discussed the possibility of constructing a new elementary school in the Rogers Road neighborhood as if it would bring an instant end to the problems this neighborhood has had for decades of living next to the landfill. While the schools' ability to pay for the extension of sewer to this area would be a tremendous benefit, it's not like sewer acess is the only challenge facing the Rogers Road area.

Congratulations to Patrick McDonough for posting the 30,000th comment on OrangePolitics! He has earned a free drink at OP's spring happy hour on March 26th. I hope to see many of you there.

And what an informative comment it was: