[FresnoFacts]

Ranking lists, lists, lists. I know we all Loooove them. :D

So here's another.

Men's Health Magazine (why them?) released its ranking of the best cities for residential recycling, in other words environmentally conscious.

The rankings are based on things like whether recycling is mandatory, how easy it is for residents to recycle, and the percent of households that participate in the recycling program.

This year's top city is Fresno (I wonder why I posted this :rolleyes: )

This is the 2nd recycling recognition for Fresno in the past month.

Fresno was also recently recognized as tops in California for recycling because it diverted 71% of its trash and waste to recycling programs instead of landfills.

The Top 10 (best recycling practices):
1. Fresno, CA
2. Fremont, CA
3. San Antonio, TX
4. Burlington, VT
5. Anaheim, CA
6. Pittsburgh, PA
7. Jacksonville, FL
8. San Diego, CA
9. Madison, WI
10. Durham, NC

The Bottom 10 (worse recycling practices):
91. Louisville, KY
92. Aurora, CO
93. Lincoln, NE
94. Detroit, MI
95. St. Petersburg, FL
96. Lubbock, TX
97. Billings, MT
98. Colorado Springs, CO
99. Las Vegas, NV
and in last place #100. Wichita, KS

Full rankings at:
http://www.menshealth.com/metrogrades/09-mar/recycle.html

[KevinFromTexas]

Yeah, I've heard San Antonio's recycling facility is "state of the art". They're in the process of expanding it too. Supposedly it's a really good recycling plant. In fact, until Austin gets an expanded/updated facility, we'll be sending our recycling to San Antonio's plant. San Antonio's northern areas are only about 50 miles south of Austin, less than an hour with good traffic.

By the way, I think they were mostly taking into account their high quality facility. While San Antonio's recycling rate is better than some other major Texas cities, Austin actually has the highest diversion rate for trash in the state.

[Urbanguy]

I'm very surprised that Portland, Oregon is not in the top 10! Oh well, i'm sure some other magazine will be releasing their own top 10 soon. ;)

[seaskyfan]

I couldn't find their methodology at the link, but sometimes these ratings can miss cities that have tackled reducing trash generation (rather than figuring out what to do with it when it's ready to be thrown out). That might explain why Portland is ranked #71.

[Cirrus]

This is probably in regards to how high-tech the plant is, not how hard the city pushes the program.

[1Post2]

Probably, since SF is conspicuously absent despite having the highest recycling rate in the country. (Maybe all the waste is shipped to Fresno's facility :D)

[Pavlov's Dog]

So there are only 100 cities now and some of them are suburbs?

[JMancuso]

This is probably in regards to how high-tech the plant is, not how hard the city pushes the program.

i'm almost certain of it otherwise austin would be on there if san antonio is.

[Jeeper]

Lubbock itself needs to be recycled.

[Mr Roboto]

Not surprised to see Madison WI on the list. I remember, when I was in school there, going to parties and seeing seperate recycling bins for beer cans and bottles and trash cans right next to them. Also, people living in apartments would put the beer bottles back in the box and use them as tables, and eventually would recycle the whole thing as they bought more beer. How clean and progressive, I used to think.

[SHiRO]

Wow who would have thought they would all be in the US....

[FresnoFacts]

I couldn't find their methodology at the link, but sometimes these ratings can miss cities that have tackled reducing trash generation (rather than figuring out what to do with it when it's ready to be thrown out). That might explain why Portland is ranked #71.

What they looked at was:
"To determine how well cities reuse their refuse, we started by asking them whether recycling is mandatory. Next we looked at how easy the cities make it for residents to recycle: No need to sort? Wonderful. Curbside pickup? Great. Then we added up the variety of materials that are recycled, giving bonus points to those places that go beyond paper, plastic, and glass. Lastly, we factored in the percentage of households that actually take advantage of the program their city offers, courtesy of SimplyMap."
http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=health&category=metrogrades&conitem=8033017eecf1f110VgnVCM10000013281eac____

[FresnoFacts]

Probably, since SF is conspicuously absent despite having the highest recycling rate in the country. (Maybe all the waste is shipped to Fresno's facility :D)

Actually Fresno's recycling rate beats SF's. Don't believe the press releases from San Francisco's City Hall. ;)

I saw the press release from SF last year that said they hit 70% and was the best in the US.
Diversion of waste, which includes recycling, composting, and re-use, has increased from 35 percent in 1996, to 70 percent today, Mayor Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday.

But Fresno had already posted numbers above 70%.

The California Integrated Waste Management Board's numbers for 2006 (the most recent they post) has Fresno at a 71% diversion rate along with cities like East Palo Alto at 82%, and Central Valley cities like Fowler at 81% and Ripon at 80%. SF was 70% that year.
http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/LGTools/mars/JurDrSta.asp?VW=In (http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/LGTools/mars/jurdrsta.asp)

So I think SF was a bit selective in the cities it compared itself to.

Fresno did the same thing last month, putting out a press release that touted among California large cities it tied with Huntington Beach for the best rate. But it left out smaller cities with better rates.
Today, the City of Fresno, Department of Public Utilities (DPU), Solid Waste Division announced a significant milestone in its ongoing recycling efforts. Fresno has ranked highest in the state among larger cities by the California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) for diverting 71% of its solid waste away from landfills and into the City’s recycling programs.
http://www.fresno.gov/News/PressReleases/2009/RecyclingAchievements.htm
http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/1155495.html

[mongoXZ]

Wow! It makes me wanna pack up and move to Fresno now!

[FresnoFacts]

Wow! It makes me wanna pack up and move to Fresno now!

LOL Of course, places like SF are changing. So it makes Fresno look more appealing. For example, Fresno now has a lower crime rate than San Francisco.

Also it was just announced today that San Francisco's famed Bay to Breakers race will now have zero-tolerance for alcohol, will no longer allow floats or wheeled objects, no pets, no roller blades, no skateboards, no bicycles, and the big one....no nudity. In other words, a safe and clean family event.

Sounds like San Francisco wants to be more like Fresno except SF is by the Bay and has a much higher housing cost. :jester:

[BTinSF]

LOL Of course, places like SF are changing. So it makes Fresno look more appealing. For example, Fresno now has a lower crime rate than San Francisco.

Also it was just announced today that San Francisco's famed Bay to Breakers race will now have zero-tolerance for alcohol, will no longer allow floats or wheeled objects, no pets, no roller blades, no skateboards, no bicycles, and the big one....no nudity. In other words, a safe and clean family event.

Sounds like San Francisco wants to be more like Fresno except SF is by the Bay and has a much higher housing cost. :jester:

Re the Bay to Breakers: Since Fresno has neither Bay nor Breakers, I don't see how cleaning up the race will make us more like Fresno, but in any case it won't be cleaned up. SF officials are good at making pronouncements like this and not so good at the follow-through.

San Franciscans do what they want and that goes for recycling as well. I doubt you will ever find a dense city (with highrise apartments as a dominant residential style) in the top recycling list, at least if it's based on the percentage of recyclable materials that actually get recycled. I know in my apartment I simply don't have room for more than one trash can in the kitchen--so everything goes in it and will continue to. Sometimes when I take it to the trash room, I try to pull out the soda cans and bottles and put them in the recycle bin there before the garbage goes down the chute. Sometimes I'm just too tired or in too much of a hurry and everything goes down the chute. I doubt I'm unique.

[FresnoFacts]

Re the Bay to Breakers: Since Fresno has neither Bay nor Breakers, I don't see how cleaning up the race will make us more like Fresno, but in any case it won't be cleaned up. SF officials are good at making pronouncements like this and not so good at the follow-through.

San Franciscans do what they want and that goes for recycling as well. I doubt you will ever find a dense city (with highrise apartments as a dominant residential style) in the top recycling list, at least if it's based on the percentage of recyclable materials that actually get recycled. I know in my apartment I simply don't have room for more than one trash can in the kitchen--so everything goes in it and will continue to. Sometimes when I take it to the trash room, I try to pull out the soda cans and bottles and put them in the recycle bin there before the garbage goes down the chute. Sometimes I'm just too tired or in too much of a hurry and everything goes down the chute. I doubt I'm unique.


It was a joke my friend about SF becoming like Fresno. They are both unique cities with pros and cons. :cheers:

Recycling in apartment life is tough. I spent almost 30 years of my adult life living in apartments and small condos. The single family home life definitely provides more space for me to partially offset my current lifestyle by recycling. (Also did it by not building a McMansion, we built a new home that is under 2000 sq ft. We really don't need or want more space than that.)

Currently only about 35% of the multi-family residences in Fresno have recycling bins. The city is distributing recycling bins to the others this year. It will help drive Fresno's diversion rate even higher. But it will be interesting to see by how much because of the problems you mention about apartments.