WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ARCHIVE   BACK TO ARCHIVE INDEX

07 Apr 99 - info request; paper; pens; subsidies; disposable videos ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------------------- >From Catherine Dickerson, Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center, Seattle, WA: One of our local hazardous waste folks has asked us to track down the following information: Are you aware of any studies that have been done anywhere that examine what, if any, correlation there is between access to/ease of disposal and use of hazardous materials (either increasing or decreasing)? Are there any solid waste studies (i.e. between accessibility of recycling and impact on waste reduction)? The frame of reference is household hazardous waste programs, but any information about other programs would also probably be useful. Any leads, etc., would be wonderful. I am just starting on this, so I still have to check all the usual places - p2tech, enviro$en$e, etc. Thanks! E-mail: cdickerson ( A T ) pprc ( D O T ) org -------------------- >From Kate Warner, waste prevention advocate, Martha's Vineyard, MA, responding to the recent posting asking for ideas for using less office paper: I go around to the local Town Halls and other offices and take used copy paper out of the recycling bins and wastepaper baskets, carefully smooth it out - if need be - and then use it as fax paper or print paper for my computer. Also use the same for phone messages, cut up into smaller pieces. I insist, at all meetings I am part of, that they start copying double-sided and that they reformat pages - as necessary - on the computer to keep from producing that next odd-numbered, last page - if they could squeeze it on the previous even-numbered page. E-mail: kate [ A T ] vineyard [ D O T ] net -------------------- Also from Kate Warner, responding to the recent posting asking for ideas for waste reduction and environmental purchasing for government agency printshops: How about the "Woody" ballpoint pens made out of scrap dowels? (They also come with refills so you never have to replace the wooden part...) ------------------- Excerpted from a March, 1999, letter from a composting systems wholesaler in California to a retailer in Washington State, explaining why they were getting out of the worm bin business (forwarded by Dave Peters): "(Our supplier informed us that they would now be) concentrating on a strategy of subsidized distributions. Your local city, county, waste management agency, or environmental non-profit will be asked to buy large quantities of product; use taxpayer-supplied funds to subsidize sales; and conduct weekend distributions at prices that usually range from $25-40/unit. We have refused to participate in these unfair government competitions with private businesses. We urge you to point out to your local representatives how this type of program shuts you out of the market. We also don't support these programs because we believe they don't work. Although government agencies have sold hundreds of thousands of garden-type compost bins -- essentially removing them from the retail market -- we believe the vast majority sit idle in backyards because people don't understand their real purpose or make the effort to compost. And so -- We Quit. Life is too short for us to expend our energy fighting this..." ------------------- Excerpted from article by Sharon King in the business section of the April 6, 1999, New York Times about Divx, a new digital video disk technology that was discussed in several postings over the past year or so (most of the postings were critical of the system for its wastefulness): In September, 1998, Circuit City Stores Inc. introduced its Divx system nationally. Divx is a technology that allows consumers to pay a small fee for video movies that do not have to be returned. Each disk costs about $4.50 and can be viewed for two days -- or longer with additional payments. Circuit City is selling both the disks and Divx disk players, which cost about $350. The Divx product line has not sold particularly well, and "has been a big drag on earnings so far" for Circuit City. "Some analysts and shareholders clearly wish the company would just throw in the towel on Divx." The Divx technology is sold in about 720 stores, including chains like Good Guys and Ultimate Electronics, as well as Circuit City. Disks are also sold over the Internet. In February, Circuit City said one million Divx disks had been sold. But some analysts estimate that as many as half of those were given as bonuses to buyers of Divx machines. Circuit City said it has sold about 90,000 Divx players, which will play regular digital video disks as well as those with the Divx technology. There are currently more than 400 movies available in Divx format, but some film studios say they do not plan to release movies in that format. - end -