SUSTAINABILITY & DESIGN: Rina Cutler

The Blue Bucketeer

by Brian Howard

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Published: Oct 20, 2010

Mark Stehle WASTE NOT, WANT NOT: Rina Cutler, deputy mayor for transportation and utilities, poses next to a BigBelly solar compactor in front of City Hall Oct. 15.

When it comes to environmental stewardship, no one would mistake Philadelphia for Berkeley. But in one short year, the city has taken strides — huge strides — in the way it deals with its waste. We've got weekly recycling pickup, we recycle all numbered plastics, and we have a Recycling Rewards program wherein residents rack up and redeem points for local goods and services.

Good. But not good enough, says Rina Cutler, deputy mayor for transportation and utilities, under whose purview this all falls.

"When I look to the future," says the Boston native with a Jane Jacobs-like fascination with urbanity, "I see Philadelphia developing a waste management strategy that mirrors those in Denmark and Sweden."

These are lofty goals. After we reduce our waste (check) and increase our recycling (check), "we ought to look to convert [our waste] to energy. That's what makes it a sustainable plan."

It's not pie-in-the-sky rhetoric. There's math. According to Cutler, we spend $37 million to send 565,000 tons of garbage to the landfill per annum. Recycling can offset some of that. She says Philadelphia recycled about 100,000 tons last year, and though the selling price fluctuates, last quarter we got $51 per ton, or $1.2 million.

Says Cutler: "This isn't brain surgery."

While the ultimate goal of zero waste is probably a pipe dream, Cutler says the final piece — reuse — is the trickiest, because it comes with images of dirty incinerators.

But Cutler, who's been in Philly since 1994, has learned a few things about her adopted citizens. In a recent speech, she noted: "Philadelphians embrace change, they just want it to look exactly the same when it's done."

Recalling the line, she laughs: "Half the city wants to kill me, and half wants to marry me. Some of that is that the city is cautious about change, perhaps deservedly so. I think the more communication there is, the more willingness there is to try stuff. And if it doesn't work, I won't do it anymore." 'Brian Howard

Sustainability and Design Honorable Mentions

Hydros Bottle
Penn grads Aakash Mathur and Jay Parekh have big, big plans for their ingenious little on-the-go filter bottle. Philly Compost The Mount Airy group goes to great lengths to keep biodegradable stuff out of landfills.

Nic Esposito
The new-school community gardening/urban ag advocate's got his hands all up in UC Green and the PHS's City Harvest Grower's Alliance.

Commonspace.us
The site, a collaboration between local techies Azavea and the Sustainable Business Network, makes navigating the city on foot easier, and more rewarding, than ever.

City Paper Choice 2010
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS: Seth Williams
LITERATURE & JOURNALISM: Barbara Laker & Wendy Ruderman
MUSIC: Girls Rock Philly
PERFORMING ARTS: Beth Nixon & Pig Iron Theater Co.
SPORTS & RECREATION: Charlie Manuel
VISUAL ARTS: Philagrafika
ACTIVISM/WATCHDOGS: South Philadelphia High Asian Student Advocates
FILM & SCREEN: Don Argott
FOOD & DRINK: The Food Trust