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30 Dec 99 - more on coffee; humor; dumping; computers; medical waste; online applications ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive --------------------- The first four postings are in response to the 12/23/99 posting from Barb Nesheim (responding to a previous posting about how Starbucks plans to continue using a separate cardboard sleeve for hot coffee cups), wondering why the coffee has to be so hot in the first place. --------------------- >From Celeste Duncan, Seattle Public Utilities, Seattle, WA: Regarding the comment that Starbucks should just lower the coffee temperature: No, no, no. Mouths seem to be more sensitive than hands. A cup of Starbucks chai or coffee that's too hot to hold is usually just the right temperature to drink. If it's not too hot to hold, this indicates that it's only lukewarm, which is really icky and undrinkable. E-mail: Celeste [DOT] Duncan [AT] ci [DOT] seattle [DOT] wa [DOT] us -------------------- >From Michelle Portman, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Waste Prevention, Boston, MA: One can tell she is not a coffee drinker. It usually does need to be somewhat hot. However, I always drink Dunkin' Donuts coffee. They serve it in a single cup and the temperature is fine, so I agree, I'm not sure what the deal is with Starbucks. E-mail: michelle [D O T] portman [A T] state [D O T] ma [D O T] us --------------------- >From Bill Sloan, Millennium/Northeast Exchange, Annapolis, MD: Barb Nesheim is not a coffee drinker. I like mine hot. E-mail: wmsloan [A T] earthlink [D O T] net --------------------- >From Jesse White, Resource Management Group, Sarasota, FL: In my humble opinion, coffee needs to be hot. It's part of the coffee drinkers' ritual. Sorry, that's part of the coffee game. What's so terrible about the sleeve? It's 100 percent reusable, recyclable, made of recycled materials, offers the purveyor of coffee one more outlet for advertising, and is generally benign (my opinion) in the overall consumption scene. Of course, it's skirting the whole issue of why not use re-usable durable mugs? E-mail: Jessewhite [A T] aol [D O T] com -------------------- >From Portia Sinnott, Waste Reduction Project, Sebastopol, CA: I am writing a series of short resident newsletter articles for use by housing authorities and other multi-family properties. I would like to use humor to bring attention to my articles but unfortunately I am not much of a jokester. So, I am looking for a source of jokes and perhaps small cartoons or even puzzles about waste reduction and recycling -- the simpler and sillier the better. I'd prefer ones that are out in the public domain so I don't have to track anyone down to get permission to use them. Or perhaps you can suggest a few new ones. I can't promise others won't use them but you will get credit from me. How about finishing this one: "Knock, knock." "Who's there?" "Paper or plastic." "Paper or plastic who?" I came up with an answer about using a reusable bag but was told it wasn't funny enough. Thanks. E-mail: PMSinnott [A T] aol [D O T] com -------------------- >From Barb Sherf, Sherf Communications, Flourtown, PA: As the New Year approaches, I am glad to be shaping an education campaign in Pennsylvania that deals with illegal dumping in our state parks and forests - but also distressed by what I'm seeing too. I've been reading lately about Web cam technology and its uses in weather/traffic applications. Does anyone know of a group or state using this technology for surveillance of illegal dumpers? Are there others out there who can respond to me regarding ideas/thoughts on this issue? Is there a similar news group/listserv like this that deals with dumping? Thanks much. E-mail: Bsherf [A T] aol [D O T] com Note from Tom: Please respond directly to Barb if your reply deals only with illegal dumping. If your response has a connection to waste prevention, we can run it on the Forum. -------------------- Link to a 12/23/99 MSNBC website article about environmental issues with personal computers (including lots of statistics, and links to other sites), written by Miguel Llanos (forwarded by Karen Hamilton): http://www.msnbc.com/news/348979.asp -------------------- Link to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Region 9) 11/23/99 press release about an EPA grant of $155,000 to four San Francisco Bay Area organizations to explore new ways that Bay Area hospitals can increase their source reduction and recycling of discarded medical supplies (forwarded by Stephanie Davis): http://epainotes1.rtpnc.epa.gov:7777/r9/r9press.nsf/news Click on "1999," then "November," then on the press release for 11/23/99. -------------------- Excerpted from an article by Lisa Guernsey about online college applications, from the 12/23/99 New York Times: About 77 percent of colleges now provide online applications, according to a November, 1999, survey of more than 400 admissions offices by the National Association for College Admission Counseling. Nearly three-quarters of those admissions offices said their systems allowed prospective students to submit their completed applications over the Web. Others can be downloaded and then printed or saved to a disk, which can also be mailed to admissions offices. One college, the University of Dayton in Ohio, has received 68 percent of its applications online so far this year. Last year, it received about 50 percent of its applications online. - end -