The US Government currently spends 50 cents of every dollar earned in this country, making them by far the world's biggest single consumer.
Yet for all the chatter from the government on boosting our green future and encouraging a new green economy of sorts, not much is being proposed to prioritize the purchase of sustainable products by the government.
One clear example of government waste and a lack of environmental responsibility relates to the purchase of plastic (composite, fiber glass, polymer) tiles that will be positioned on every corner of every sidewalk in America as a detectable warning for the disabled.
Using today's technology, plastic can only be protected against UV rays for up to of 18 months.
Therefore, it's only a matter of time -around 5 years until these products fall out of compliance.
The industry standard, Armortile, manufactured by Engineered Plastics, have learned that their product is a short fix for the American Disability Actcompliance and have added removability and replacement in to their design.
If you consider that the corner of every sidewalk in America is required to have detectable warnings in compliance and currently the government pays for the removal and replacement of composite products that expire before the the expected 30 year life of a sidewalk.
Is this approach realistic or simply a way for these companies to have a never ending demand for their product by tax payers? Plus, from an environmental standpoint, these flimsy, eroding mats can't be recycled, meaning eventually they will end up in a landfill.
When it's all said and done, it's the tax payer that ends up paying for this shortsightedness when the plastic needs to be replaced The cost will definitely add up; just consider that in one case, according to the Portland Mayor's blog, Portland has 4,804 miles of sidewalks, including 37,744 street corners.
Every corner has 2 ramps and the material for each ramp even costs conservatively around $100, that equals $7,548,800.
This doesn't take in to account the cost of labor or disposal of the bad mats after only 5 to 10 years of compliance.
Plastic detectable warning mats and the controversy that surrounds them is just one example of the shortsightedness and waste in our system, but it's hard to deny that if the U.
S.
Government would use our money more wisely and remain accountable to these green promises, sustainable products would get cheaper and be more accessible for the average consumer.
Yet for all the chatter from the government on boosting our green future and encouraging a new green economy of sorts, not much is being proposed to prioritize the purchase of sustainable products by the government.
One clear example of government waste and a lack of environmental responsibility relates to the purchase of plastic (composite, fiber glass, polymer) tiles that will be positioned on every corner of every sidewalk in America as a detectable warning for the disabled.
Using today's technology, plastic can only be protected against UV rays for up to of 18 months.
Therefore, it's only a matter of time -around 5 years until these products fall out of compliance.
The industry standard, Armortile, manufactured by Engineered Plastics, have learned that their product is a short fix for the American Disability Actcompliance and have added removability and replacement in to their design.
If you consider that the corner of every sidewalk in America is required to have detectable warnings in compliance and currently the government pays for the removal and replacement of composite products that expire before the the expected 30 year life of a sidewalk.
Is this approach realistic or simply a way for these companies to have a never ending demand for their product by tax payers? Plus, from an environmental standpoint, these flimsy, eroding mats can't be recycled, meaning eventually they will end up in a landfill.
When it's all said and done, it's the tax payer that ends up paying for this shortsightedness when the plastic needs to be replaced The cost will definitely add up; just consider that in one case, according to the Portland Mayor's blog, Portland has 4,804 miles of sidewalks, including 37,744 street corners.
Every corner has 2 ramps and the material for each ramp even costs conservatively around $100, that equals $7,548,800.
This doesn't take in to account the cost of labor or disposal of the bad mats after only 5 to 10 years of compliance.
Plastic detectable warning mats and the controversy that surrounds them is just one example of the shortsightedness and waste in our system, but it's hard to deny that if the U.
S.
Government would use our money more wisely and remain accountable to these green promises, sustainable products would get cheaper and be more accessible for the average consumer.
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