NYC recycling

Great news for New Yorkers and the environment! "In a bid to curb the environmental impact of nearly 1 billion plastic bags used by New York City consumers annually, the city's council passed a bill on Wednesday requiring large stores to set up recycling programs." Read the full article here.

In Darjeeling, there is a complete ban on plastic bags. Goods are wrapped in paper parcels and tied with twine. It's a very political issue there, as the environmental damage due to littering was very visually apparent. In NYC, the problem is not so much the littering, as the massive scale of consumption and the extremity of our particular brand of "culture of convenience." However, I'm very pleased to see that this type of recycling will become significantly easier for New Yorkers in the near future.