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3 May 99 - seeking newspapers that help reuse; reusables exchange website; e-bills ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition --------------------- >From Darin Cosgrove, Reuses.com, Brockville, Ontario: Dear forum members - I am looking for examples of newspapers which are assisting local reuse programs. I'm especially interested in papers which print, on a regular basis, free classified ads from people who wish to give away (rather than throw away) unwanted, but still-useful items. I am aware of 2 so far: - The Yukon News - Whitehorse, Canada (publishes reuse needs in an ad once a month for free in cooperation with a local recycling center). - I have also been told that the "Otra Vez Trash to Treasures" program in Santa Fe, New Mexico has a similar arrangement with a newspaper there. If I get any responses, I'll post a summary back to the list. E-mail: darin [ AT ] newpublishing [ DOT ] com --------------------- Also from Darin Cosgrove, Reuses.com, Brockville, Ontario: I operate a small Internet programming company and our primary project in 1999 has been the development of a Web-based residential materials exchange (reuse) program in Brockville, Ontario, similar to the Free Market in the Twin Cities. Collaborating with our city's solid waste coordinator, we have developed a pilot Web site which was launched May 1st at: http://www.brockville.reuses.com Note from Tom: The Internet address for the Free Market that Darin mentions, which is operated by the Saint Paul, MN, Neighborhood Energy Consortium, is: http://www.twincitiesfreemarket.org/ -------------------- Excerpted from an April 26, 1999 press release from Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA (forwarded by Bill Smith): Paper bills waste 600 million pounds of paper each year, kill 600,000 trees and fill 900,000 cubic yards of landfill, the equivalent of 355 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Yet, today, paper bills are still mandatory for almost anyone who has a mortgage, uses credit, or wants to supply their home with such basics as electricity, water or a telephone. GTE Corp., one of the country's largest telecommunications companies, sends nearly 200 million bills annually, which adds up to 5.8 million pounds of paper, or several thousand trees. Recently, GTE and several other prominent billers began testing a new service that could transform the paper billing process, just as Automated Teller Machines, or ATMs, have changed the way we do our banking. The new service is "e-bills," or Internet-based bill delivery and payment. This summer, TransPoint, a joint venture of Microsoft Corp., First Data Corp. and Citibank, plans to launch its e-bills service through a variety of Web sites. E-bills contain the same level of detail as the paper bills that consumers find in their mailboxes today, but they are rendered electronically and found at a designated choice of Web sites. With e-bills, there is no need for special software - users need only a 3.0-level Internet browser or higher. To access e-bills, consumers will log on to their choice of a general purpose Web site, bank site, or e-bills provider site. Once users have selected the e-bills icon and entered identification, a list of their bills will appear. The advantages of using e-bills include paying bills as late as 5 p.m. the day before bills are due and setting designated payment dates. This can be especially helpful when consumers go on vacation; they can set the date of payment before they leave and not worry about their bills accumulating or going unpaid while they're gone. For the full press release, and links to more information, see: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/1999/04-26transpoint.htm - end -