Kick Starting the Green Economy

Considering the Government spends nearly 50% of our annual GDP, it is not hard to believe that they are the world’s biggest single consumer.

Yet for all the discussion from the government on improving the environment and encouraging a new green economy of sorts, little is being proposed to prioritize the purchase of sustainable products by the government.

Saving the Earth and the Economy at the same time ain't bad!

One example of government waste and a lack of environmental responsibility involves purchasing of plastic (composite, fiber glass, polymer) strips that will be positioned on every corner in the U.S. as a detectable warning for the disabled.

Using today’s technology, plastic can only be protected against UV rays for a maximum of 18 months. Therefore, it’s only a matter of time -around 5 years until these products are no longer compliant

The industry standard, Armortile, manufactured by Engineered Plastics, know that their product is a temporary fix for the American Disability Act compliance and have added replacement and removability in to their design.

Now consider that every street corner in America is required to have detectable warnings in compliance and currently the government finances the removal and replacement of plastic products that fall apart before the true life of the sidewalk. Honestly, is it realistic or simply a way for these companies to have a never ending demand for their product by tax payers? Not to mention, from an environmental standpoint, these weak, eroding mats can’t be recycled, meaning eventually they will end up in a landfill.

In the long run, it’s the tax payer that ends up paying for this temporary approach when the products fail to meet compliancy 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. Considering 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 devices and the controversy that they are involved in them is just one example of the thoughtlessness 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 held responsible to these green promises, green products would get cheaper and be more accessible for the average consumer.