CT Green Scene

Taking Out the Trash

By Brittany Shutts
    

It’s hard to beat Germany’s recycling system. Multicolored trash bins line the exceptionally clean streets of German cities where the citizens separate colored glass, paper products, packaging, and food and plant waste. There are even some bins for clothes, shoes, and scrap metal. Black bins are only for waste that doesn’t fit into any of the other categories. Seventy percent of the waste in Germany is recycled every year, whereas the U.S. only manages to recycle 28%.
   
One of the biggest differences between the systems in Germany and the U.S. is that it starts with the manufacturers. It is their responsibility to minimize the amount of waste that is created, recycle any unavoidable waste or convert it into energy, and dispose of waste that cannot be recycled without causing environmental harm. In contrast to the “polluter pays” principle, the U.S. uses the “consumer pays” principle, which requires taxpayer funding for waste management. Since businesses in Germany bear the financial burden, controlling waste and recycling becomes a greater priority.

It's World Poopin Day!

Via Mashable

On March 13, 2011 you — our dear reader — will have a chance to poop on your friends. For charity. As strange as it may sound, “World Poopin’ Day” is a pretty smart way of mixing social media with under-served water sanitation issues.

“Poopin” can refer to one of two things. In net-speak, it is the term used for sending messages through a friend’s Twitter or Facebook account when they’ve left their cell phone unattended. There is even a list of rules associated with poopin, like “2. Stealth is rewarded” or “6. Accept defeat with grace and dignity.” The anatomical definition of pooping is, well, yeah.

Yeah, poop is funny, but it’s not funny,” World Poopin Day spokesperson, Cybele Diamandopoulos said. “Humor is definitely key, but we don’t want to lose sight of what we’re doing.” The stats are a little shocking. According to Water.org, more people on the planet have a cellphone than have a toilet. The water in American toilets is cleaner than nearly 1 billion people have to drink. Each year, diarrhea kills more young children than AIDS, malaria and measles combined. To put that in perspective, the world loses 70,000 classrooms of kindergartners every year due to diarrhea.

That discomfort with talking about poop is actually core to World Poopin Day, an awareness campaign benefitting Water.org and GiveLove to drive awareness to water sanitation issues, especially in developing countries, like Haiti. There, we've partnered with GiveLove to create a design collaborative called HaitiOnward, to bring sustainable solutions to the people of Haiti.

You can join the cause by signing up at WorldPoopinDay.com using your Facebook or Twitter account. Accounts will be randomly poopin’d at some point on March 13 from a selection of five messages expressing support for water sanitation issues. The posts will share the hashtag #poopin along with information highlighting the issues and a call to donate. You can also text “poopin” to 27722 to make a $10 donation.