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20 Oct 99 - ordinance; more poop on kitty litter; aluminum cans; electronics forum ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive ------------------- >From Dave Peters, Kitsap County Dept. of Public Works, Port Orchard, WA: Kitsap County, Washington, has recently enacted a "Waste Prevention in County Government" Ordinance. The goal of this ordinance is stated in the first paragraph: "An ordinance to decrease waste in Kitsap County government operations by promoting the efficient use of resources, replacing toxic products with less toxic alternatives, the purchasing of environmentally-preferred products, and establishing recycling as the preferred solid waste management practice for all County operations." This ordinance has teeth in the form of annual accountability of department heads. Each year the Solid Waste Division meets with department heads to set annual goals. We present the goals to the Board of Commissioners for adoption in January. The following December, a progress report is made by each department head to the Board of Commissioners. Department heads have been very receptive to setting goals which result in a net savings to the department over the year. The entire ordinance can be viewed at: http://www.wa.gov/kitsap/departments/pubworks/wastereduction.html It's a good model that can easily be duplicated by any jurisdiction. We have found that the ordinance is taken much more seriously than previous resolutions made by the Board of Commissioners. E-mail: DPeters (AT) mail1 (DOT) co (DOT) kitsap (DOT) wa (DOT) us ------------------- The next two postings are in response to the recent postings about cat litter boxes and cat litter. ------------------- >From Ann Schneider, University of California Santa Cruz Extension, Business Environmental Assistance Center (BEAC), Santa Clara, CA: I use a litter box with reusable gravel. It does take a pad to collect urine, but we use newspaper. If I was completely Zero Waste I would get the underground compost container for the newspaper and fecal material. But haven't gone that far yet. These reusable rock litter boxes can be purchased from a national pet catalogue company, Fisher or something like that. E-mail: aschneid [ AT ] cats [ DOT ] UCSC [ DOT ] EDU ------------------- >From Renee Kimball, Recycling Advocates, Portland, OR: Thought I'd weigh in on this one as we've done the WHOLE route. We scoop out poop and flush it (for flushable litters), and bury it for non-flush. My reviews of different cat litter products: Good Mews - Recycled content, flushable. Great all around, does not have dust (a bonus for your lungs). Urine tends to sink to bottom and permeate material. Degrades in about 4 weeks (with rain). Not easy to see wetness or judge quantity expelled if you have to monitor your cat due to urinary tract problems. Harmony - Recycled content, flushable. Tends to be odor-free longer than Good Mews, but breaks down more quickly in pan. Degrades in about 2 weeks (with rain). Also not easy to monitor amount of urine. Several clumping with bentonite - Swells a lot, requires burying, is a hassle and can have some hefty asthma-causing dust and perfumes. Easy for monitoring but not for disposal. Bentonite is what they line ponds with so they won't leak water. Clumping flushable - The only one we found that worked was Cedar Fresh Scoop. It had no perfume (one was so heavy I had hay fever for three days). I don't know what the sewer authorities think of this type of litter, however. It does not contain bentonite. You cannot flush more than two clumps, so the litter requires more attention. However, if you have to constantly monitor a cat, it is the best we've found. Does have some dust which is irritating to some people. E-mail: rrrRenee ( AT ) aracnet ( DOT ) com -------------------- >From Barbara Frierson, City of Alameda (CA) Public Works, responding to the 10/18/99 news item about Denmark being an environmental leader: I learned from a Danish seat-mate on the plane this summer that Denmark has banned use of aluminum beverage cans. There is no recycling system for them, and they actually have become a major litter item when people bring them in from other countries. I noticed a similar phenomenon in the Netherlands, where aseptic boxes are very popular. Beverage packaging is almost entirely in paper, glass and plastic. There are no collection facilities for aluminum cans, unless residents throw them in with the scrap metal. It seemed to me that there must be a strong glass and/or plastic packaging lobby there, or perhaps lack of aluminum ore to make aluminum manufacturing economically attractive?? I didn't follow it up closely, as there were too many bike paths to take and windmills to check out... E-mail: BFRIERSO [ A T ] ci [ D O T ] alameda [ D O T ] ca [ D O T ] us -------------------- >From Christine McCoy, National Recycling Coalition, Alexandria, VA: The new NRC forum about electronics recycling (described below in excerpts from a message from NRC's Dawn Amore) will also include discussions about reuse! NRC HOSTS ONLINE FORUMS FOR ELECTRONICS RECYCLING The National Recycling Coalition (NRC) is launching a series of Internet-based discussions on electronics recycling through its new Electronics Recycling Online Forum. NRC has convened a group of experts to answer questions about different aspects of electronics recycling each month. The experts will answer your questions in two ways - through an Internet message board and during real-time online chats. The Electronics Recycling Online Forum is open to anyone interested in learning more about managing end-of-life electronic equipment. The forum will provide a quick, expansive means to address barriers to computer reuse, establish communication links among organizations interested in computer reuse, and create a learning environment full of authoritative information on emerging topics. The first real-time chat is "Trends in Electronics Recycling in the United States" and is scheduled for Wednesday, November 3, 1999, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm ET. To join the discussion, go to http://www.nrc-recycle.org/Programs/electronics and look for the link to the forum and online chat. You can help us plan the real-time chats by posting questions to the online forum. How much electronic equipment is out there? What is being done with it? Any questions you may have about trends in electronics recycling can be posted to the forum. If you plan to attend, please RSVP by e-mailing Dawn Amore at the address below. First-time users will need to register (which takes less than five minutes) and may be done in advance. Instructions for registering are on the website listed above. The Electronics Recycling Online Forum has been made possible by funding from the U.S. Postal Service. For more information, contact Dawn Amore at (703) 683-9025, ext. 205, or by e-mail at: dawna [ A T ] nrc-recycle [ D O T ] org - end -