<div id="subtitle">New efforts to reduce pressure on landfills are springing up around the country</div><div><p> Movements to reduce residential and commercial garbage have sprung up from time to time, only to fade away because the level of cooperation needed to have an effect never materialized.</p><p>The latest movement, under way in many parts of the country, has a better chance of succeeding because many segments of society — governments at all levels, manufacturers, corporations, retailers, restaurants, schools, individuals — are starting to work together.</p><p>And the movement has national leadership, provided by the Portland, Ore.-based Zero Waste Alliance (zerowaste.org). Leadership is an element that was sorely lacking in previous anti-garbage drives.</p><p>Something else, too, was lacking in previous drives — an urgent need to cut back on waste. Today, however, most U.S. cities and towns have little open land that does not abut residential or commercial development.</p><p>Writing about the zero waste trend, The New York Times interviewed Jon Johnston, an Environmental Protection Agency manager who is helping coordinate the movement in the Southeast. ÒNobody wants a landfill sited anywhere near them, including rural areas,Ó Johnston said.</p><p>Examples of zero waste efforts are beginning to be seen. Supermarkets and other stores are giving customers incentives for supplying their own bags for purchases. This may sound like small potatoes, but it will stop billions of plastic bags from entering landfills.</p><p>Also, manufacturers are beginning to produce packaging made from biodegradable plant-based material instead of plastic. Restaurants are setting aside more food for composting, rather than throwing everything in trash bins. And recycling efforts are being redoubled at many businesses, schools and homes.</p><p>The Times wrote about Nantucket, Mass., where the community now sends only 8Êpercent of its garbage to the landfill, the rest being either recycled, composted or given away if reusable. The stateÕs residents, as a whole, send 66Êpercent of their waste to landfills or incinerators.</p><p>WeÕre hoping to see more communities achieve that level of cooperation, so that this time around the movement does not fade away.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=62053490&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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