What isn't MD more environmentally conscious?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish Maryland or at least MoCo would institute municipal compost pickup for residential customers. When I asked years ago, I was told there was no place in Maryland to bring the compost. Strains credibility a bit, I think, but I could be wrong. We do back yard composting but many do not and it limits what we can compost. I would think with China reducing its demand for recycling, it would be good to increase composting and switch to more compostable products in restaurants, etc., to the extent single use items are still in play.

Yes.. I'm also from CA. The city in CA that I lived in gave us compost buckets. Now, in MD we compost on our own.

As for solar panels, I believe MD does do some kind of rebate program, but it's not that big. Of course, solar panels make more sense in CA, not so much in MD where it seems like half the year we have no sun I miss CA weather.

It also makes more sense in CA for residents to have rain barrels. OP, as I'm sure you've noticed, MD gets a lot of rain. Your water bill is probably 1/3 of what it was in CA. I know mine is. But, my DH and I have also recently talked about getting a rain barrel. They aren't cheap though. City of Rockville wil provide rebates for rain barrels.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can get a subsidy for your rain barrel in MoCo

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/water/rainscapes/rebates.html

And the county also routinely gives away compost bins.

On the other hand the state has spent billions on road widening and also has done nothing for public transit in Baltimore and took years to make up their mind about the Purple Line and then lost a couple of more years because of liberal NIMBYs in Chevy Chase.

MD's version of being green isn't even going to make a dent in Carbon Emissions and probably won't be enough to save the Bay either.

Let’s be honest. MD could shutdown completely and it still wouldn’t make a dent in carbon emissions considering what China and India are emitting.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t take steps to reduce our carbon footprint, but let’s not overstate what the impact will be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish Maryland or at least MoCo would institute municipal compost pickup for residential customers. When I asked years ago, I was told there was no place in Maryland to bring the compost. Strains credibility a bit, I think, but I could be wrong. We do back yard composting but many do not and it limits what we can compost. I would think with China reducing its demand for recycling, it would be good to increase composting and switch to more compostable products in restaurants, etc., to the extent single use items are still in play.

Yes.. I'm also from CA. The city in CA that I lived in gave us compost buckets. Now, in MD we compost on our own.

As for solar panels, I believe MD does do some kind of rebate program, but it's not that big. Of course, solar panels make more sense in CA, not so much in MD where it seems like half the year we have no sun I miss CA weather.

It also makes more sense in CA for residents to have rain barrels. OP, as I'm sure you've noticed, MD gets a lot of rain. Your water bill is probably 1/3 of what it was in CA. I know mine is. But, my DH and I have also recently talked about getting a rain barrel. They aren't cheap though. City of Rockville wil provide rebates for rain barrels.

Compost poster here, also from California. What’s interesting is that you can’t have rain barrels or other catchments in some places in California because they are protecting the need for groundwater. In Maryland, we don’t have that iissue. That said, it’s so wet we rarely water our yard, with the exception of new plantings or the occasional dry spell. I miss the sun, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm from the West Coast where there are tons of tax incentives and programs that make it cheaper and easier to be environment friendly. I could plug my car in at tons of places. There were bigger tax rebates on Solar and programs where your electricity bill would be zero. Rain barrels to collect water for outdoor irrigation were subsidized. Trash pick up was really expensive if you went over your one small can for trash, one large recycling and one large yard waste and compacting. This created a big community of people giving and taking things off free cycle, Nextdoor, Goodwill etc. Here you can dump anything for free.

I thought that MD was super progressive?

Rain barrels are subsidized in our MD town. We are legally required to recycle many items, and trash will not be collected if those items are found in the waste stream. You seem unfamiliar with how much is recycled or diverted in Maryland...

From Maryland MDE: "Maryland's residents and businesses should be very proud of the fact that they had a 47.6% waste diversion rate in 2014. This consisted of a 43.5% MRA recycling rate and a 4.1% source reduction credit."

What is the Maryland Recycling Law?

In 1988, the Maryland Recycling Act (MRA) authorized MDE to reduce the disposal of solid waste in Maryland through management, education and regulation. The MRA requires that:

Each of Maryland’s jurisdictions develop and implement recycling programs. Jurisdictions with populations greater than 150,000 are required to recycle 35% of their waste and jurisdictions with populations less than 150,000 are required to recycle 20% of their waste. State agencies must implement a recycling plan with a 30% recycling rate mandate. (2012)
If a jurisdiction fails to meet the specified reductions, State and local authorities can prohibit the issuance of building permits for all new construction.
Each jurisdiction select materials to be recycled and the manner in which materials are to be separated and processed.
State agencies participate in recycling programs.
Newsprint and telephone directories distributed in the State have a recycled content, by weight, of 30% in 2001, increasing to 40% by 2005.
Additional legislation impacting recycling in Maryland includes:

Banning separately collected yard waste from disposal at solid waste acceptance facilities.
Requiring permits for private natural wood waste recycling facilities.
Counties to consider the feasibility of composting solid waste when developing solid waste management plans.
Including composting in the definition of recycling and be counting it when calculating the recycling goal.
The MD Department of Agriculture product standards for compost intended for commercial use (COMAR 15.18.04.06 et. seq.).
Mercuric oxide battery manufacturers be responsible for the collection, transportation, and recycling or disposal of these batteries sold or offered for promotional purposes in the State.
Establishing a program or system for the collection, recycling, or disposal of each cell, rechargeable battery or rechargeable product sold in the State.
Establishing a voluntary, Statewide waste diversion goal of 40% by the year 2005. The goal consists of a 35% MRA recycling rate plus up to 5% credit for source reduction activities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm from the West Coast where there are tons of tax incentives and programs that make it cheaper and easier to be environment friendly. I could plug my car in at tons of places. There were bigger tax rebates on Solar and programs where your electricity bill would be zero. Rain barrels to collect water for outdoor irrigation were subsidized. Trash pick up was really expensive if you went over your one small can for trash, one large recycling and one large yard waste and compacting. This created a big community of people giving and taking things off free cycle, Nextdoor, Goodwill etc. Here you can dump anything for free.

I thought that MD was super progressive?

There's absolutely nothing to prevent you from buying all that stuff yourself, or doing it yourself.

What you're pissed off about is that no one else is being forced to buy it or subsidize it so you can have it at a lower cost.



At least have the courage to say what you REALLY mean.