New Recycling in Pittsburgh
Most people are aware of recycling and waste management, but few people actually know about the process of recycling or managing a landfill. The city of Pittsburgh uses different methods of recycling throughout different parts of the city and surrounding area, but most of these methods are single-stream recycling. This means that all of the recyclable products are dumped into one bin and then sorted at a facility. This can lead to all kinds of issues that often result in a lot of the materials being discarded instead of recycled. This is why I am proposing a mandate that requires people to have separate bins for different recyclable materials that can be collected separately for more efficient and effective recycling. The bins will be provided by the city, but citizens are responsible for sorting their own recyclables and will be fined or punished if they do not follow the mandate.
1). Comment on the title. How does it offer a way forward on the issue? Does it hint at or echo the paper’s thesis? Make suggestions.
I think the title should be a bit more specific on the issue, perhaps try to mention a bit about the issues with the existing system.
2). Does this piece’s title and introduction respond to an exigence?-Does it make the issue pressing or connect to other pressing needs and issues? Make suggestions.
While I liked how direct your introductory paragraph is, I think you could try to better the exigence by incorporating statistics on how the existing system causes issues. I would also try to revise your tone so that it is more formal and avoid the use of a first-person point of view. Additionally, I think you could try to smooth out some of your transitions.
3). Comment on the thesis. Does it set up a clear argumentative claim? Is it advancing a specific policy or practice? Can you imagine how the rest of the argument will unfold?
I think you are definitely going in the right direction with the thesis. You were very specific but maybe slightly wordy with the thesis. I would suggest rewording the two-sentence thesis into one and summarizing the mandate in simpler terms.
Great job!
I like the title! I think it’s simple and lets the reader know what this issue brief will be about. To improve the title maybe change it to make the issue seem a little more pressing.
I think that you touch on the issue of single-stream recycling and make the issue seem important. I also like how you used the word “now” in the title to make it seem more pressing. However, I think adding a statistic or two about the problems with single-stream recycling or explaining the problems in a little bit more detail could enhance your argument and make it more exigent.
I think your thesis is very straightforward. I think it does a good job of setting up the rest of your paper!