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06 Jan 00 - online vs. paper; more on coffee; Dilbert; point cards; junk mail; website ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive --------------------- >From Peter Allison, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Waste Prevention, Boston, MA: I am looking for data or anecdotes regarding the source reduction benefits (or costs) of distributing information electronically as opposed to by mail. Our executive office wants to claim that posting regulations on the web will reduce paper generation. I could easily argue the issue both ways: single-sided printouts use more paper than double-sided mailed copies; yet, selective printing of electronic information might use less paper than full mailed documents. Does anyone have information to support one argument or the other? Thanks. E-mail: Peter (DOT) Allison (AT) state (DOT) ma (DOT) us Phone: (617) 292-5980 --------------------- The next three postings are in response to the recent postings about reusable and disposable coffee cups: --------------------- >From Yen Chin, City of Seattle, Seattle, WA: I note a distinctly narrow range in the discussion about Starbucks' decision to back away from their experimental waste-reducing cup. By "narrow" I mean that I've found no mention of the broader implications of coffee consumption itself. Since this forum devotes itself to Waste Reduction I can accept the absence of words about the political or social implications. I can even swallow the exclusion of the ecological implications of heavy pesticide use in coffee's cultivation. However, even within the bounds of Waste Reduction lots of issues remain unexamined. For example, coffee only grows in climates warmer than we in the U.S. normally enjoy. Consequently, places like Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia and Kenya grow the beans, and they have to be transported long distances from the fincas to the Starbucks. Is there waste associated with extracting fossil fuels from the earth? Export crops in general divert farm land from production of food consumed locally to a cash economy that in turn produces huge amounts of waste in just the packaging necessary for shipping cash crops out and bringing in food. Do we consider the discarding of locally sustainable agriculture as a production of waste? Just wondering. "The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind." - William James E-mail: Yen [DOT] Chin [AT] ci [DOT] seattle [DOT] wa [DOT] us --------------------- >From Karen Hamilton, Environmental Purchasing Program, King County Procurement Services, Seattle, WA: In response to Naomi Friedman's comment on 1/5/00. Starbucks does offer a 10 cent discount for bringing in your own mug. They also seem to do a great job selling reusable mugs. But the problem that I see is that many of the coffee drinkers that I know have several Starbucks mugs (with lids) at home, at work, in their car, and they never bring them along when they get their coffee. It does boil down to education, education, education. E-mail: karen (DOT) hamilton (AT) metrokc (DOT) gov --------------------- >From Kinley Deller, Green Works Business Assistance Program, King County Solid Waste Division, Seattle, WA: More on the coffee cup issue. How would it work for an espresso shop to randomly pick a couple of hours every week to give out free drinks to whomever brings in a reusable cup? If people knew there was a lucky chance they might get their drink free by bringing their own cup, I think they'd remember to bring it a lot more often. E-mail: kinley (D O T) deller (A T) metrokc (D O T) gov ---------------------- Also from Karen Hamilton: In response to Portia Sinnott, who's looking for waste reduction jokes. This Dilbert cartoon is not in the public domain, but I think it's funny: Boss (to secretary): - Send this by e-mail. - Fax it too, in case he doesn't check his e-mail. - And mail the original so he has a clean copy. Secretary: Goodbye "paperless," Hello "clueless." --------------------- >From Karen Higgins, City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, responding to the 1/5/00 item about the "point cards" program in suburban Tokyo (offered by a local chamber of commerce), where shoppers get credits on their card for returning refillable bottles or using a cloth bag, then get discounts on future purchases: This sounds good, but I wonder if they use plastic "credit card" type cards that are disposed of once they reach a certain limit. If they are anything like the new plastic gift certificates sold by major stores, they are very wasteful. Once the amount of money on the card is used, you can't add to it. On another subject - junk mail - I have finally made headway on consistently not receiving local grocery mailers, etc., at home. ADVO and Pennysaver, the two vehicles for local mailers, took me off their mailing lists, but it took several calls to my local post office (district supervisor) and notes on my mailbox to get the carrier to stop giving me all the junk flyers. E-mail: khiggi ( A T ) dwp ( D O T ) ci ( D O T ) la ( D O T ) ca ( D O T ) us --------------------- >From Tom Watson, National Waste Prevention Coalition coordinator: The address for the National Waste Prevention Coalition website has been changed. The change was made by King County's telecommunications staff, for technical reasons. The new address is: http://dnr.metrokc.gov/swd/nwpc The old address (http://dnr.metrokc.gov/swd/nwpc) will still work for the time being, but if you link to this site from your own site, or if you have it bookmarked, be sure and change to the new address. Sorry for the inconvenience. Thanks! - end -