Remember plastic microbeads in facial scrubs? The tiny plastic particles called microbeads added scrubbing power to facial cleansers, toothpastes, and household cleaners —and plastic into our natural waters. Back in , the Netherlands became the first country to outlaw the use of microbeads in personal care products. Since then countries like Australia and South Korea have joined the cause, with the UK boasting some of the strictest regulations.
But there is still a long way to go as only a handful of countries have enacted legislation addressing the plastic bead problem and countries like the US have loopholes in the rules set by their microbeads ban. No potholes, no problem. In India, about 26, metric tons of plastic waste is generated each day. India has been experimenting with plastic roads since the early s, converting the pesky waste problem into a smooth, long-lasting highway to the future.
Scientist and chemistry professor Rajagopalan Vasudevan first used plastic as a binder in gravel in According to Vasudevan, three metric tons of carbon dioxide is saved for every kilometer of road that reuses plastic instead of incinerating it. Over 6, miles of roads in India have used this plastic-recycling innovation since that first trial.
From Ghana to the UK and the US , this new, eco-friendly road technology is paving the way towards a brighter future. In , Maine became the first US state to introduce a revolutionary law to put the responsibility of packaging waste on companies.
The Extended Producer Responsibility program will shift cardboard, plastic containers, and nonrecyclable packaging recycling and disposal costs to the manufacturers. Less than a month later, Oregon became the second US state to approve a packaging law. How can we make sustainable products and packaging the norm in the EU? But the concept of EPR is not new. To succeed in the world economy, we need to free ourselves from the burden of growing deficits and debt, and strive to get the most out of our government by ensuring that limited resources are not wasted on duplicative, outdated, or ineffective programs.
Consolidating duplicative or overlapping programs: The Government Accountability Office GAO released a study with results that came as no surprise to many: there is too much duplication of programs. The Administration has proposed a range of efforts such as eliminating 13 discretionary Department of Education programs and consolidating 38 K programs into 11 new programs that emphasize using competition to allocate funds, giving communities more choices around activities, using rigorous evidence to fund what works.
It also proposed merging 55 duplicative, often-earmarked highway programs into five streamlined programs. Recognizing that the best ideas are often not found in Washington, the President launched the SAVE Award in to solicit suggestions from frontline Federal workers about how to cut waste.
Disposing of unneeded federal real estate: The federal government is the largest property owner and energy user in the country, but some of that property is not being used productively. Currently, Federal agencies operate and maintain more real property assets than are needed.
Reducing the number of federal data centers : We have identified data centers that will be eliminated by To start, 24 agencies will close data centers by the end of , and 81 of these data centers have already been shut down.
Tips for Home The best place to start making a difference is right in your own home. Lawn and Garden Learn to compost at home. Use food scraps, yard trimmings, and other organic wastes to create a compost pile. Adding the compost you make to soil increases water retention, decreases erosion, and keeps organic materials out of landfills.
Raise the cutting height of your lawnmower during hot summer months to keep grass roots shaded and cooler, reducing weed growth, browning, and the need for watering. If you need large lawn and garden equipment such as tillers and chainsaws, you can reduce waste and save money by setting up a sharing program with your neighbors.
The clippings will return nutrients to the soil instead of taking up space in landfills. Donate healthy plants that you want to replace to community gardens, parks and schools. If you have a wood burning fireplace, save your ashes instead of throwing them away. Once cooled, wood ashes can be mixed into your compost heap and provide nutrients to your garden.
Home Improvement Use insulation made from recycled paper, glass, and other recovered materials. Clean and properly store tools, toys and outdoor furniture to protect them from damage and keep them out of landfills. Turn off or unplug lights during the day.
Doing so will save energy and help your lights last longer. Storms can cause power outages. Prevent waste by keeping rechargeable batteries for your flashlights. If you do use disposable batteries, reduce hazardous waste by buying ones with low mercury content.
When moving, use old newspapers to wrap fragile materials. Use moving boxes with the highest content of recycled paper and bubble wrap containing recycled plastic. Be sure to recycle packaging materials after your move. Many organizations, such as U-Haul, have places where you can drop of unused boxes for others to reuse. Look for household hazardous waste collection days in your community to properly dispose of cleaners, paints, automotive supplies and other hazardous items.
For cleaning chores, buy reusable mops, rags and sponges. Tips for Students and Schools Students, parents, and teachers can all make a difference in reducing waste at school. Green School Supplies Think green before you shop. Many items can be reused or recycled.
Purchase and use school supplies made from recycled products, such as pencils made from old blue jeans and binders made from old shipping boxes. Keep waste out of landfills by using school supplies wrapped in minimal packaging, and buying in bulk when possible. Save packaging, colored paper, egg cartons and other items for arts and crafts projects. Look for other ways that you can reduce the amount of packing that you throw away. Maintain new school supplies. In the private sector, businesses abandon activities that no longer make sense, and about 10 percent of all U.
Business output can be measured by profits, revenues, and other metrics. But government output is difficult to measure, and the missions of federal agencies are often vague and multifaceted.
That makes it hard for Congress and the public to judge agency performance and to hold officials accountable for results. While businesses interact with customers, suppliers, and capital markets, federal agencies are often insular and less open to outside feedback, and that makes them more vulnerable to failure. Rigid Compensation. Federal employee pay is based on standardized scales generally tied to longevity, not performance. The rigid pay structure makes it hard to encourage improved efforts or to reward outstanding achievements.
The pay structure also reduces morale among the best workers because they see the poor workers being rewarded equally. Furthermore, the best workers have the most incentive to leave, while the poor workers will stay, decade after decade.
Lack of Firing. Disciplining federal workers is difficult because of strong civil service and union protections. When surveyed, federal employees themselves say that their agencies do a poor job of disciplining poor performers. Federal programs are loaded with rules and regulations, which reduces operational efficiency. One reason for all the rules is to prevent corruption and fraud, which are concerns because the government hands out so many contracts and subsidies.
Another reason is that there is no profit goal in government, and so detailed rules provide an alternate way to monitor workers. Bureaucratic Layering. Research has found that American businesses have become leaner in recent decades, with flatter managements. Paul Light of the Brookings Institution found that the number of layers, or ranks by title, in the typical federal agency has jumped from 7 to 18 since the s. Political Appointees. Administrations come into office eager to launch new initiatives, but they are less interested in managing what is already there.
Political appointees may think that they know all the answers, and so they repeat past mistakes. In markets, the price mechanism and supply and demand allocate resources efficiently across the nation. The government has no such mechanism, and so federal aid is distributed based on guesswork and parochial politics.
Allocating resources from Washington for local activities, such as schools, is less efficient than each state balancing the costs and benefits of its own spending programs.
Bad Incentives. Americans have diverse needs and beliefs. Some programs make sense for some states, but not for others. Yet the federal aid system requires that all the states pay for programs created in Washington.
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