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12 Nov 99 - business junk mail; disposable cell phones; medical device reuse ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive ------------------- >From Tom Watson, National Waste Prevention Coalition (NWPC) coordinator: NEW RESOURCE TO HELP BUSINESSES REDUCE JUNK MAIL Most businesses receive an enormous amount of unwanted mail: Sales pitches they don't want, duplicate catalogs, and mail addressed to employees who left years ago. Many businesses recycle their unwanted mail, but it still costs businesses time and money to handle it. At one large Seattle-area office, a six-week study showed that the mailroom staff was spending more than 25 percent of its time sorting advertising mail! Now there's a way for businesses to stem the tide of junk mail. We're proud to announce that the NWPC Reduce Business Junk Mail website is up and running! It's located on the main NWPC website at: http://dnr.metrokc.gov/swd/nwpc/ Click on "Reduce Business Junk Mail." While there are many resources (on the Internet and elsewhere) to help households reduce junk mail, this is believed to be the first package of resources designed specifically to help businesses and employees with this pervasive problem. The website includes: - How a business can have itself removed from two major business mailing lists (Dun & Bradstreet and InfoUSA). - Examples of how companies and organizations have set up successful programs to reduce their unwanted mail, saving time and money. - A model postcard to send to mailers to get off lists. - How to contact the National Waste Prevention Coalition's new Business Junk Mail Complaint Bureau. - Steps that a business can take to keep from getting on mailing lists in the first place. - And more... Thanks to all of you who have helped with this project, either by contributing information, reviewing drafts of the site, or both. The list of contributors is on the website at: http://dnr.metrokc.gov/swd/nwpc/bizjunkmail10.htm Feel free to tell businesses and media in your area about this new resource, or to link to this site off of your own websites. The Coalition will begin our publicity effort next week. Please e-mail me with any comments, questions or suggestions about the site. Thanks! E-mail: tom (D O T) watson (A T) metrokc (D O T) gov ----------------------- >From Mark Loughmiller, Recycling Coordinator, Lake County, IL (forwarded from the Environmentally-Preferable Products Procurement listserv by Kinley Deller and Lauren Cole): I was watching the local news (Chicago) on Nov. 8 and there was a story about a patent being awarded for a disposable phone. The phone will sell for about $20 and be "loaded" with 60 minutes of air time (similar to a calling card). The tone of the story indicated that this was soon to become reality. This means that shortly (about 60 minutes) after the disposable phone hits the market place, recycling coordinators throughout the country (or wherever the phones are sold) will get calls about recycling the product. I am alerting everyone about this product in hopes that the introduction of the product can be curtailed unless the manufacturer accommodates the return of the spent phones for recycling or reuse. The patent was recently filed and no mention was made of the applicant or how to contact the company - so this is a "heads up" request to watch for more info and somehow get the word to the company that they must exhibit producer responsibility for the handling of spent units. E-mail: kelmar19 [ A T ] idt [ D O T ] net --------------------- An article by Gina Kolata on the front page of the Nov. 10, 1999, New York Times describes how medical devices labeled "single use only" are often cleaned, sterilized and reused in hospitals and clinics around the nation. These devices might include biopsy needles used to extract tissue, tiny scissors used to cut out tissue in patients' gastro-intestinal tracts, or wires and balloons that go into the coronary arteries or the heart itself. Some doctors and hospital officials say that manufacturers charge so much that they often cannot afford to use devices just once, and they can't pass the charges on to clients because in many cases rates are set in advance by insurance companies or Medicare. They also say that many expensive devices that are labeled "single use only" can safely be used repeatedly. Device manufacturers reply that the hospitals are putting patients at grave risk to save money. Following is a letter to the editor published in the Nov. 11, 1999, New York Times, responding to the article. The letter was written by Howard Frumkin, M.D., of Atlanta, an associate professor of environmental health at Emory University. To the editor: The reuse of medical devices is potentially wonderful news, despite the warning tone of your 11/10/99 article. Industrial ecology teaches us to analyze what industry takes, what it makes and what it wastes. Routinely disposing of serviceable equipment, manufactured at high economic and environmental cost, is wasteful. Moreover, incineration releases mercury, dioxins and other toxins into the environment, threatening public health. Once we have evidence of safety, we should promote the reuse of medical equipment for sound health, environmental and economic reasons. - end -