Green The Style

Turning the fruits of a recycling program into tangible results has proven hugely successful for the Chicago Park District and the city’s residents.

Chicago’s 563 parks are now being covered in garbage. But it is in the form benches, playground barriers and other items composed completely of plastic donated by residents in the city’s Plastic On Parks (POP) program.

At the start of the two-year-old project, 400 pounds of plastic was being collected each week, said Fred White, director of recycling for the park district. Now, more than 40,000 pounds of plastic are brought to the city’s 260 recreation centers every week.

“When you contribute to a project and can see what your efforts are creating, it’s a lot easier to get excited about it,” White said. “They know their plastic bottles are becoming useful items.”

Under the program, residents bring their empty plastic milk, water and pop containers to their local city recreation ..

Source: recycling

Other Helpful Posts
1. Going high-tech to track Alzheimer's patients (AP)
   AP - Tom Dougherty jokes that he takes "get-lost walks." To his wife, Cleo, it's a constant fear: When will his Alzheimer's get bad enough...