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20 Aug 99 - media toolkit; slide wheels; business waste; dry cleaners; new battery ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive ------------------- >From Christine McCoy, National Recycling Coalition, Alexandria, VA: The Source Reduction Forum, a Council of the National Recycling Coalition (NRC), has published "Waste Prevention Pays: A Media Outreach Toolkit." The purpose of the Toolkit is to provide state recycling organizations, government agencies and nonprofits with resources to help promote the benefits of source reduction and reuse through local media markets. The Toolkit resources can be used to develop a waste prevention or reuse campaign, or help support existing programs. The Toolkit includes a number of valuable resources including: a Media Outreach Tip Sheet; Waste Prevention Sampler (a viewable VHS tape with 4 video and 6 audio PSAs and a 14-minute instructional video on grasscycling that can be easily reproduced to include your website, campaign message, or other relevant information); a generic Opinion-Editorial; generic Press Release; and an extensive Additional Resources section. Toolkits are $25 for NRC members and $40 for non-members. Master copies of the PSAs can be made in the format of your choice. Reproduction costs will vary. Information on how to order the Toolkit should soon be available on the NRC web site at: http://www.nrc-recycle.org/ Click on "What's New." In other news, the Source Reduction Forum has announced that it is now a membership-based technical council of the NRC. As the newest technical council, the Forum is seeking members. All current NRC members interested in becoming members of the Forum should contact me by e-mail at ChristineM [ A T ] nrc-recycle [ D O T ] org or by phone at 703/683-9025, ext. 211. The Source Reduction Forum's first annual business meeting and Steering Committee elections will be held during the NRC Annual Congress in Cincinnati on Sunday, September 26th, from 9 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Information regarding the Forum Steering Committee elections and nominations will be available on the NRC web site before the end of August. Also see the NRC website for information on the source reduction and reuse sessions at this year's Congress. E-mail: ChristineM ( A T ) NRC-Recycle ( D O T ) org -------------------- >From Sally Fisher, Clark County Public Works, Vancouver, WA: Has anyone developed one of those informational slide wheels for alternatives in the yard and garden? I'm looking into it and have discovered that it is very costly - and I don't want to reinvent the wheel, so to speak! I'd appreciate any info anyone can provide on this. Thanks! E-mail: Sally (D O T) Fisher (A T) co (D O T) clark (D O T) wa (D O T) us -------------------- >From Judy Crockett, Portland (OR) Bureau of Environmental Services: Here is a website that people might be interested in: the California Integrated Waste Management Board's Solid Waste Characterization Database, which shows waste compositions by type of business. The address is: http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/WasteChar/BizGrpCp.asp I think it's great. E-mail: JudyC [AT] BES [DOT] CI [DOT] PORTLAND [DOT] OR [DOT] US -------------------- >From Tom Watson, National Waste Prevention Coalition coordinator: After we ran the item on 8/16/99 about our Coalition's dry cleaning waste prevention project, I got a call from Freda Tepfer, who works on Moderate Risk and Special Waste for Snohomish County Solid Waste Management in Everett, WA. She pointed out that many government agencies have contracts with dry cleaners to clean uniforms for police officers, fire fighters and other personnel. Freda suggests that these agencies could specify in their Requests for Proposals that preference will be given to wet cleaners or other cleaners that use alternative solvents (or possibly cleaners that have other environmental programs as well). Does anyone know of any agencies that are currently doing this? This is an innovative procurement idea that I hope catches on. As we all know, government agencies can really have an impact when they begin requiring higher environmental standards for the services or products that they buy. Freda can be reached at: Freda (DOT) Tepfer (AT) co (DOT) snohomish (DOT) wa (DOT) us -------------------- Excerpted from an 8/16/99 article from the Reuters news service (run in the New York Times): MORE POWER, LESS POISON IN A BATTERY A new iron-based battery not only lasts much longer than conventional batteries, Israeli researchers say, but contains fewer toxic metals and is gentler to the environment when thrown away. The new "super-iron" batteries are rechargeable and can be used in anything from portable compact disk (CD) players to medical implants, the researchers wrote in the journal Science last week. The batteries have a particular advantage in appliances with a high drain on electrical energy, such as cameras, portable CD players and cellular phones. "Today's high-tech gadgets... are wasteful of batteries," said lead researcher Stuart Licht of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa. "I was specifically searching for materials to cut down on this wasteful disposal, compatible with existing battery systems, and which are environmentally 'clean' materials." Licht said he was exploring the commercial possibilities of super-iron batteries but added that it was too early to predict when they might go on the market and how much they would cost. - end -