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07 Jun 99 - reuse directory; investment forum; Earth Day 2000 ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive ------------------- >From Roger Guttentag, consultant and writer, Harleysville, PA: This message is in response to Thor Peterson's 6/4/99 posting regarding his development of an online reuse directory for Seattle Public Utilities. 1. It sounds as though the organization of the reuse directory will be driven by product category. If that is correct, you should realize that not every user will recognize the product category they need, or they may have a reuse need that won't fit one of your categories. The best approach, I think, is for the top-level site organization to be driven by specific action categories that are easy to understand and apply. One example could be text that says "Click here if you want to:" - with the choices being: A. Buy a reusable product B. Pick up free reusable products C. Sell a reusable product D. Donate a reusable product E. Repair a reusable product After the user makes his/her selection, they can be given a choice to either select a specific product category (e.g. appliances) or browse the section's resources. The latter choice is for those users who may want to know what their general options are or are just engaging in recreational bargain-hunting activities. 2. As far as reuse resources are concerned, in addition to the usual suspects such as second-hand retailers and repair shops, others to consider would be a variety of Internet based resources such as: A. Free classifieds B. Barter or swap exchanges C. Auction sites D. Web sites devoted to do-it-yourself information 3. Another type of resource that would be helpful would be a listing of non-profit or educational organizations that accept donations of specific usable products (e.g. office supplies, building materials, electronic products, etc.) 4. I would go easy on trying to pack the site with too much information relating to what I would call environmental trade-off issues, and I would be careful in its placement on the site so that its presence does not obstruct the site's main purpose, which is to promote product reuse. Frankly, I am not even sure if providing a lot of information on ancillary energy or resource efficiency issues, for example, will lead to better decisions by the individual user. I think simple, defensible rules of thumb would be better. For example, I purchased an older used lawn tractor for lawn mowing. Perhaps the newer models are more energy efficient and less polluting. However, I just assumed it was environmentally better (as well as cheaper) to keep an older machine in service. Maybe I'm wrong but I really did not have the time or patience to figure out precisely which purchase would be, on the whole, environmentally better. However, if I had some simple guideline to follow such as: On the basis of total environmental impact, avoid the following lawn tractor models built before 19__ - then it would be easier for me to make a purchasing decision. 5. With respect to repair shops, it's really not that hard to find repair shop listings - especially for users who can find information online. The much bigger issue concerns reliability and honesty. The repair industry often has severe public relations problems with respect to its commercial integrity. For example, one of the favorite stories that news organizations like to run is the auto or appliance repair sting where a product with a known and very simple-to-correct problem is brought to a shop to see if they find it or concoct some fantastic costly repair story. These stories get aired because the news service always manages to find one or more repair businesses who engage in unethical practices. This, unfortunately, creates a high degree of consumer suspicion and doubt for the product repair industry, and I am sure that a lot of products (though I don't know what percentage) are not repaired simply because of these concerns. It would be great if there was a way that a repair establishment's business integrity could be certified, and that certification was the basis for then being listed on your site. That alone, I'm certain, would drive a lot of traffic to the site. 6. With respect to reuse, it would be helpful to have short factsheets about how to buy certain kinds of high-end reusable products such as appliances, electronics or even cars. Sincerely, Roger Guttentag Phone: 215-513-0452 E-mail: rgutten ( AT ) concentric ( DOT ) net ------------------- Excerpted from message from Moira DeRosa, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 9, San Francisco: The deadline has been extended to June 12 for submitting applications for the Western Recycling Investment Forum, to be held in Irvine, CA, on July 12, 1999. Do you have a great business idea to collect, process, manufacture or sell products with recycled or reused materials, including compost, and plan to operate in the Western United States, but lack money? If you are an expanding or start-up recycling or reuse business, with a complete business plan and a strong management team, we would like to hear from you. Eligible businesses seeking $50,000 to $5 million in investor-based debt equity will have the opportunity to present their business plans to investors and/or exhibit at the forum. For more information, call Linda Christopher or Coy Smith at 415-561-6530 or see the Internet website at: http://www.materials4future.org/investapp.html The Western Recycling Investment Forum is sponsored by the U.S. EPA Region 9 and the California Integrated Waste Management Board. ----------------------- Excerpted from a message from the Earth Day Network, Seattle, WA: For information on the international plans for Earth Day 2000, see our website at: http://www.earthday.net/worldwide/index.html - end -