CityLab
Below are selected pieces from 2018 and 2019 when Nicole Javorsky was an editorial fellow at The Atlantic. (At the time, CityLab was part of The Atlantic — now it’s part of Bloomberg News)
How American Recycling Is Changing After China’s National Sword
“This facility is our version of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.”
That’s how Eileen Kao described Montgomery County, Maryland’s recycling center on a tour. Kao, who is chief of waste reduction and recycling in the county’s Department of Environmental Protection, pointed out how machines in the facility help sort recyclables. As she described how the machines worked, a magnet separated steel and tin cans into a storage silo while a shaker table collected pieces of glass that were too small to be sorted …
Why Toledo Just Gave Legal Rights to Lake Erie
Lake Erie provides drinking water for 11 million people, and an unusual tactic to protect it was just adopted in Toledo, Ohio: On Tuesday, Toledoans passed the “Lake Erie Bill of Rights” in a special election, with 61 percent voting yes on a ballot measure that could allow citizens to sue polluters on behalf of the lake.
“This is the first in the nation in terms of rights-of-nature law being adopted by a municipality over a certain ecosystem, and I think it’s the beginning of more things to come in that area,” said Thomas Linzey, executive director and chief legal counsel for the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, which helped local activists draft the bill …
First Come the Floodwaters, Then Comes the Mold
When Hurricane Florence made landfall on September 14, it pummeled the Carolinas with high winds and staggering amounts of rainfall. The storm dumped more than 30 inches of rain in some areas, causing rivers and roads to flood. Then, this month, after it decimated homes in the Florida Panhandle, Hurricane Michael caused serious flooding in Virginia.
Now, thousands of victims will assess and repair the damage to their homes. Many will tear out flooring and drywall to try to get rid of mold …