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More good news for the National Mall, our nation’s front yard! Or if you’re feeling less romantic: Our city’s most centrally located dust generator!
According to the Washington Business Journal, Coca-Cola is donating $500,000 for “a sustainable and long-term recycling program on the National Mall.”Of course, there’s lots of room for improvement on the mall. And it hasn’t gone unnoticed. Last week, the Department of the Interior announced a plan to inject $55 million of its stimulus money into mall improvements. Much of the funds will go to repairing the reflecting pool and surrounding “walkways, lighting, irrigation and the Lincoln Memorial lower approach-way plaza,” according to the WBJ.
The grass itself has also been a persistent problem. Last year, SafeLawns.org, a Maine-based nonprofit, managed two roughly two-acre plots of land, testing out only organic products to see if they could improve upon the mall’s pitiful, uhhhh, grass retention history.
Anyway, here’s more on Coca Cola’s plan:
The Trust for the National Mall, the official partner of the NPS, said the comprehensive recycling and educational program for the National Mall’s 25 million annual visitors will kick off with a waste stream study.
This summer, waste on the National Mall will be studied by type and volume and Coke will help formulate best practices on how to address recycling.
The study should be released in the fall, said Caroline Cunningham, president of the Trust for the National Mall.