Dear Jenny,

They say the recyclables you put in the blue bin should be clean, but honestly, how clean does that pizza box or shampoo bottle really have to be?

—Amanda, Boston

How much cheese is too much? And what about the shampoo caps? Do I have to flatten the cardboard? And really, why no broken glass? These are the kinds of questions that freeze well-meaning recyclers in confusion between the blue bin and the trash can.

To get to…

Read & Discuss

Pollution is a global problem, but the costs are paid neighborhood by neighborhood. Now that California has adopted an ambitious, cover-all-bases greenhouse gas reduction plan, it is being widely touted (this happens to us a lot in California) as the model for a national plan. Most of the provisions.. Read & Discuss

The business of giving is doing more harm than good. Read & Discuss

The Community Living Room project turns grim scraps of public land into outdoor "living rooms." Read & Discuss

Dear Jenny,

They say the recyclables you put in the blue bin should be clean, but honestly, how clean does that pizza box or shampoo bottle really have to be?

—Amanda, Boston

How much cheese is too much? And what about the shampoo caps? Do I have to flatten the cardboard? And really, why no broken glass? These are the kinds of questions that freeze well-meaning recyclers in confusion between the blue bin and the trash can.

To get to…

Read & Discuss

Pollution is a global problem, but the costs are paid neighborhood by neighborhood. Now that California has adopted an ambitious, cover-all-bases greenhouse gas reduction plan, it is being widely touted (this happens to us a lot in California) as the model for a national plan. Most of the provisions.. Read & Discuss

The business of giving is doing more harm than good. Read & Discuss

The Community Living Room project turns grim scraps of public land into outdoor "living rooms." Read & Discuss