“World's Most Complete Neighborpedia”
Sponsor a Community — What is Localism? | Register or Sign In
Explore:   What's happening in your neck of the woods?
Home Portland OR Chosen America's 3rd Least Was...

Portland OR Chosen America's 3rd Least Wasteful City

In a study by Nalgene, Portland OR is rated as America's 3rd least wasteful city. In a study of America's 25 largest cities, we did pretty well. We finished below San Francisco and New York, and one above Seattle. Last on the list is Atlanta.

This isn't much of a surprise to us as we are generally ahead of the curb in many ways. What is surprising is that New York beats us and that we don't use more rain barrels. Might be we wouldn't know what to do with THAT much water...

Way to go Portland!!!

Portland's high rankings:

  • Using reusable containers in place of single-serve bottles of water/soda or other beverages - 1st
  • Using reusable containers in place of disposable food storage items - 1st
  • Buying bulk food to avoid extra packaging - 1st
  • Not buying bottled water - 1st
  • Shopping at local markets that carry locally grown food - 1st
  • Using a reusable grocery bag - 1st
  • Buying second-hand clothing, electronics and furniture - 1st
  • Throwing out less than two bags of trash each week - 2nd
  • Saving leftover meals and food to eat again - 2nd

Low rankings:

  • Limiting showers to less than 5 minutes - 14th
  • Reusing Ziploc bags and tin foil - 15th
  • Using rain barrels - 12th

Overall

  • 78% of Portland residents consider themselves to be "eco-conscious"
  • 88% plan on being more environmentally conscious in the next year
  • 57% of Portland residents think their city is on the right track to becoming more environmentally responsible

To learn more about Portland's environmental and sustainability programs, visit http://www.portlandonline.com/index.cfm?c=43046

Posted Thursday Apr 16