Environment

Where do all those rotting jack-o-lanterns go?

Right now, somewhere on your block, a pumpkin is rotting. If you’re lucky, that somewhere is in a Waste Management-sanctioned green bin, where it can safely decay with other compostable trash, and not on your front porch. It is mid-November, after all. This time of year, pumpkins become a major player in the composting program run by Waste Management, the North American company in charge of trash in Alameda County. In Oakland, all degenerate Jack-o-lanterns — as long as they…

EPA pulls tugboat from depths of Oakland Estuary

There’s something in the water in Oakland.

But thanks to several local, state and federal agencies, it’s being cleaned up. On Monday, a 105-foot tugboat, nicknamed “Captain Al,” emerged from the depths of the Oakland Estuary where it had been resting – and rusting – for over a decade.

Startup provides online marketplace for Bay Area food producers

Rob Spiro and Alon Salant founded Good Eggs, a website where local food producers can sell their products in the Bay Area. On this site, food shoppers can load up their virtual shopping cart with anything from locally-caught fish and fresh produce, to vegan pastries and baby food, which they can have delivered to their door step or ready for pick up from various locations in their area.

Oakland looks for solutions to curb illegal dumping

In the past year, the amount of illegally dumped junk has shot up by 34 percent, according to the Oakland Public Works Agency, which logged almost 18,000 incidents in 2012. San Francisco, which has twice the population of Oakland, had just 22,000 incidents.