The Civic League for Regional Atlanta

"For 2009 we decided to take advantage of all of the data and concerns raised during The Civic League’s Neighborhood Forums held in conjunction with the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Fifty Forward planning initiative. From each set of Forums on a given subject, we zeroed in on the single issue that seemed most on attendees’ minds," says Bob Bunker, who chairs The Civic League’s research committee.

As our research team looked over that information last year, three topics leapt out at them: recycling, light rail and the cultural value of multicultural festivals. Researchers at the Andrew Young School for Policy Studies at Georgia State University developed those topics into research papers that should be of interest and value to our members and regional policy makers.

Links to all three papers can be found here, and in upcoming issues of Regionally Speaking, we’ll feature a synopsis of each along with a link to the full report.

Recycling for a greener region: Research from The Civic League

In honor of Earth Day on April 22, we’d like to call your attention to The Civic League’s just-released Best Practices in Recycling: How to Cut Costs, Improve Participation, and Reduce Waste to Promote a Greener Atlanta Region by Tara Squitiro and John C. Thomas. Recycling is based on the premise that a demand exists for recycled products, that is, used materials that would otherwise have been discarded, but are instead processed, cleaned, and repackaged into new products that can have market value. This report examines innovative recycling programs that have been adopted by cities and counties across the U.S., profiling, in particular, five best practices in local recycling that appear to hold the greatest promise. Each practice is explained in detail, and illustrated with examples from specific local governments. A concluding section explores possible strategies for initiating these practices in the Atlanta region.