schaffer_structuring


 * Memo: Structuring a Project**

Legal and legislative: Technological: Economic: Social: Political: Cultural: Natural:
 * In many cities and states, Pay-as-you-throw laws require waste management to charge residents more for collecting more waste. This is not the case in Troy, but PAYT is on the table as a legal tool for waste management.
 * It is illegal not to recycle in Troy, but this is not enforced.
 * Existence of composting industry makes large-scale, high-tech composting systems available for purchase
 * Existence of resource management industry makes bin-scanning technologies and waste audits feasible
 * Putting things in a pile is also available, has been for a while
 * Wikispaces & listservs encourage online collaboration (by some people but not all)
 * Throwing away organic materials costs cities money
 * Throwing away organic materials moves organic materials out of cities
 * Money can be made off of composting, transporting organic waste, producing compostable products
 * Multiple networks of environmental advocates exist and overlap in Troy, centered around social movements like Transition Troy, institutions like RPI and Capital District Community Gardens, and ecological entrepreneurs like EcoLogic
 * Some degree of disjunction between largely white, middle class, progressive activists and non-white, lower class, non-progressive citizens
 * Hierarchies of expertise and authority among organizers
 * Large environmental agencies (e.g. NYSERDA) offer grants for certain kinds of waste reform that are interesting to cities like Troy, and push city government to investigate options
 * A new city council has shown interest in waste reform
 * Partnerships between cities and recycling/composting companies are relatively common and look good for both parties
 * Waste-as-environmental-problem is a readily available frame
 * Composting and gardening are popular among (some) Troy residents
 * Community organizing is popular among (some) Troy residents
 * Organic, local food is considerably appetizing to local markets
 * Interesting mix of excitement about green businesses and distrust of green capitalism
 * Organics in landfills give off methane, a potent greenhouse gas
 * Landfills leach into water table, encroach on land
 * Moving waste far away uses gas, produces carbon emissions
 * Compost as fertilizer has less deleterious environmental impact than chemical fertilizers