Michael Bloomberg to Save $100 million a year

Green Initiatives to Save NYC $100 million

January 2012

The Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, recently gave his “State of the City” address.  Much of it focussed on education, but there were some interesting green initiatives too.

And those green initiatives will save New York City some $100 million each year – I think that’s exciting!

It’s all to do with waste disposal.

• New York is a large city, so it generates a large amount of waste.
• Most of that waste goes to landfills, some of which are remote from the city.
• Every time waste is added to a landfill, tipping fees and taxes are charged, as well as the transportation costs.

Here’s a summary of what Mayor Bloomberg is going to do:

1. In just 5 five years, Mayor Bloomberg plans to double the diversion rate from landfills.  This means not sending all the garbage to landfills, but instead, composting and recycling some of it.  Half of it, in fact.  This is not easy in New York – many residents live in apartments without the space for recycling bins or gardens in which to compost.  He will increase the number of recycling bins on streets, and also in schools, as well as expanding the plastics recycling program.  Reducing the amount of garbage sent to landfills will save $50 million each year.
2. Recognising that trucking garbage to remote landfills is expensive as well as bad for the environment, Mayor Bloomberg will reduce transportation charges by using barges and rail transportation instead of primarily trucking it.  This will reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by 192,000 tons and 58 million truck miles per year.

Garbage disposal is never elegant.  But Mayor Bloomberg has obviously run the numbers and applied management principles (to manage it, you’ve got to measure it).  His plan will save money and be kinder to the environment.

That’s a win-win in my book!

P. S. “Clare, being  eco friendly is expensive!”   I hear this fairly often.  Some things that are eco friendly are.  Some things cost more up front but save you money over their lifetimes (like LED lighting for example).

And in many instances, eco friendly options save you money up front.  And they don’t harm the environment.  One of the main aims of this blog is to highlight ways of saving money while being eco friendly.  Today’s article highlights plans by others.  Other articles in this blog show ways you can get involved, as well as save money yourself.  I like win-win scenarios!