WBEZ 91.5 Chicago

 Curious Citizen Andrea Lee heard Chicago aldermen no longer manage neighborhood recycling. So she wanted to know: Aside from speeches, hand-shaking and suit-wearing, what are they responsible for?

At a time when environmentalism is as much about high-tech innovation and industrial economies of scale as it is about conservation, recycling seems almost quaint.

More than 131,000 households will get blue cart recycling services in March and April, Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office announced on Wednesday.

Used electronics are a boon for some Illinois businesses, including one company that irks some ink manufacturers by rehabbing their cartridges.

Chicago aldermen have long controlled a key city service: garbage pick-up. But not for long, says Mayor Rahm Emanuel. As part of our coverage this week of Emanuel's budget, we look at the politics of trash.Right now, Chicago's garbage trucks are assigned to one of its 50 wards."

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Friday he might change the way the city collects garbage.

Evanston residents and other interested groups had their first chance Tuesday night to weigh in on a proposed ban on single-use shopping bags.While opinions ran the gamut - from favorable to opposed - all agreed that they would like to see Evanston become a greener place.