To: Mayor Bill de Blasio
Reduce Stone Construction Landfill Pollution
As New York City residents, we are concerned with the pollution that the NYC $70 billion construction market creates - especially when it comes to stone construction waste which is heavy and generates a larger carbon footprint than other materials due to transportation. We want the city to fund a pilot program that will take this valuable waste and upcycle it into green building materials - solid stone tiles and pavers so that we solve this very important ecological challenge.
Why is this important?
When stone waste ends up in our overcrowded landfills, it does not disintegrate and creates dead space which further pollutes our environment. To consider crushing stone waste into aggregate that ends up under our highways is irresponsible as stone is mined from the earth's crust and takes millions of years to form.
Manufacturing stone waste into green building materials will create jobs for our most vulnerable citizens that need jobs - the inner city poor, formerly incarcerated, and jobless who are in desperate need of opportunities as most low skilled labor is off-shored to China. These jobs would help reduce crime, improve the city's ability to reduce debt, and stop slashing our education budgets.
