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14 Jun 99 - alternatives to toxics; reuse guide; bike parts; Parade article ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition ------------------- >From Dave Peters, Kitsap County Dept. of Public Works, Port Orchard, WA: The California Peer Review Project has gathered scientific information on the efficacy, health and environmental effects of twelve alternatives to hazardous household products, in order to assist local household hazardous waste (HHW) program managers. The project was developed to counter industry challenges to the accuracy and reliability of information about alternatives recommended by HHW program managers. For details see: http://www.peerreview.com/home.htm E-mail: DPeters ( A T ) mail1 ( D O T ) co ( D O T ) kitsap ( D O T ) wa ( D O T ) us ------------------- >From Mark Wheeler, University of Massachusetts (formerly of Dutchess County, NY), responding to the recent postings about the on-line version of the "Use It Again, Seattle!" reuse guide now being developed by Seattle Public Utilities: "Use It Again, Seattle!" (in its original booklet form) was a great inspiration to the development of our reuse guide for Dutchess County, NY. Taking a cue from David Goldberg, we expanded the categories to include "refillable" and "remanufactured" products. Returnable milk bottles and repaired computers were the items quickly noted by the local press. Just a thought to include these types of businesses for their reuse services. E-mail: mwheeler (A T) larp (D O T) umass (D O T) edu ------------------- >From "Delete This Newsletter," a newsletter published by Jim Schrock of Earthworks Recycling, Spokane, WA: A May 31, 1999, article in the Portland (OR) Business Journal by Gina Binole describes how a Portland company, Resource Revival, hopes to do about $300,000 in sales this year by using bicycle parts to make things like wine racks, photo frames and bottle openers. For the full article, go to: http://www.amcity.com/portland/stories/1999/05/31/story2.html?h=recycle ------------------ >From Tom Watson, coordinator, National Waste Prevention Coalition: The cover story in yesterday's (June 13, 1999) "Parade" magazine was "What Will We Do With All Our Garbage?" It was written by Bernard Gavzer. This article is significant because Parade is included with Sunday newspapers in hundreds of cities, big and small, across the nation. Parade has an enormous circulation -- 37 million copies -- and is read by an estimated 82 million adults every week. The article isn't bad, although it struck me as something that might have been published 10 years ago. On the cover, along with the headline mentioned above, is a photo of a clean-cut-looking family surrounded by bags and bags of garbage (and a few bags and bundles of recyclables). The large, bold-faced caption says, "In one month, a typical family produces the mountain of trash you see here. In fact, each American creates 4.4 pounds of garbage a day. The problem is, we're running out of ways to dispose of it." Inside, above the article, in big print, it says, "America produces more garbage than any other nation, and disposing of it is a huge problem. Not only are some landfills running out of room, but they also may pose the threat of toxicity." Despite the somewhat sensational tone of that blurb, the article itself is relatively tame. It quotes all the usual suspects. It mentions problems with landfills and incineration, but ends on the optimistic note that people are working to solve the garbage problem, with recycling, for example. Waste prevention doesn't get too much attention, although there is a nice photo of a bike repair and reuse project in Chandler, Arizona. There is also this quote from environmentalist Denis Hayes of the Bullitt Foundation: "Think of how much could be saved just by cutting down the vast amount of cardboard and paper that goes into packaging." And there's a list of Things you Can Do: "1) Learn what materials are recyclable; 2) Buy goods made from recyclable material; 3) Reject unnecessary packaging; and 4) Reuse things instead of throwing them away and constantly replacing them. The article's not on Parade's website on the Internet, but it shouldn't be that hard to find a copy, at the library or from a friend, if you're interested. --------------------- Note from Tom: The Forum's new archive is currently out of service. We hope it will be back in operation soon..... - end -