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28 Jan 00 - packaging; paper; issues; display; submissions; back online; holidays ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive --------------------- >From Stephen Long, state of Massachusetts, Boston, MA: In response to Chris Byrch's 1/25/00 request for suggestions on interactive waste minimization ideas, the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History has a small exhibit that demonstrates the problems of wasteful packaging. The exhibit is contained in three Plexiglas cubes (all in a row). The first cube has a grocery bag full of typical food items, the second box is the contents (just the food) of all the packages, and the third is all the packaging. While it is not really interactive, the display clearly shows that packaging comprises about 70 - 80 percent of the contents of the original grocery bag. E-mail: Stephen [ D O T ] Long [ A T ] state [ D O T ] ma [ D O T ] us --------------------- >From Marcia Rutan, Snohomish County Solid Waste Management Division, Everett, WA: An inspired and inspiring group of 6th graders at Lynnwood Intermediate School, near Seattle, is putting together a PowerPoint presentation for their school faculty and potentially for the Edmonds School District Board. Their goal is to persuade the school and the district to use recycled paper. I'm meeting with the students on Feb. 4 and will also put in a plug for waste prevention. I'd like to provide some substantial documentation and information for them, on both recycled paper use and waste prevention - such as results other schools/districts have charted, having made this commitment. What reduction in paper use and money did they see? How did costs compare using recycled paper? What process was used to motivate the school/district to change policy? And anything else that is effective and useful. I want these students to be successful, and (greedy me) I'd love to use their presentation as a basis for motivating the 13 other school districts in this county. I'm scheduled to be out of the office part of next week, so I would appreciate hearing from you by Monday Jan. 31 if possible, so I can collate the information into an orderly packet. I know that's a terribly fast turnaround, but anything you have to offer would be very helpful. I'd also be glad to share the results of this project wherever it is useful. Thanks! E-mail: marcia [ DOT ] rutan [ AT ] co [ DOT ] snohomish [ DOT ] wa [ DOT ] us -------------------- >From Susan Salterberg, Center for Energy and Environmental Education, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA: I appreciated Heather Sandner's 1/25/00 comments on the huge new homes being built throughout America. I agree - we need to be talking about broader waste reduction issues, and I think this forum does a good job of that. Just yesterday, after learning about the research paper on tires (in a 1/21/00 posting) and logging on to read portions of it, I learned that 22 gallons of crude oil is used to produce just one tire! That statistic is enlightening, especially in combination with information on the environmental impact of crude oil extraction from the book, "Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everyday Things" (by John Ryan and Alan Durning, p. 22). I think it's important to be addressing the bigger issues, such as house size, but also very important to be talking about "smaller" issues, such as tires and recycling aluminum cans. (The Stuff book tells me that aluminum is so energy intensive that it's called "congealed electricity.") Almost everyone in America uses these materials, and can take actions to reduce waste. Not everyone is building the monstrosities. On a different, but I think related, note, our center is trying to educate about consumption issues, and has worked on several projects to educate and/or increase awareness about house size. One of those is a three-fold tabletop display, titled "Are you in control of your money?" The panel that evokes the most discussion is about how the Frugals and the Spenders use their money (they are two families who earn the same amount of money annually). Two of the big differences are house size and type of car. This display, and two others ("Is stuff taking over your life?" and "You are what you eat... what are you eating?") are available on loan to folks like you. The only charge for users is the cost for one-way shipping ($15-$25). The displays can be viewed at http://www.cns.uni.edu/simplify Click on "Displays." The displays aren't overtly promoting waste reduction or recycling, but the waste reduction/reuse messages are there. Our intent was to develop displays that mainstream America would look at, so we tried to appeal to broader concerns - such as money and clutter - rather than focusing primarily on waste reduction. I'd love to have some of you use the displays and provide feedback. For more information, e-mail me at ceee ( A T ) cns ( D O T ) uni ( D O T ) edu or call 319/498-4516 or 273-2573. --------------------- Excerpted from release from Greenleaf Publishing, Sheffield, United Kingdom: Greenleaf Publishing invites contributions for a special issue of "Greener Management International" on corporate citizenship, and a new book, "Perspectives on Corporate Citizenship: Context, Content and Processes." Contributions are invited that address areas including, but not limited to: Defining corporate citizenship; stakeholder partnerships; accountability standards; new economics of sustainable development; strategies for corporate citizenship. We encourage contributions from practitioners in businesses, non-governmental organizations and government, as well as academics. Papers should be between 4,000 and 6,000 words in length. Case studies should be 2,500-4,000 words in length. The paper submissions should follow editorial guidelines, which can be obtained from Greenleaf Publishing (see below). Abstracts of 300-400 words should be sent to the editors prior to March 15, 2000. These should ideally be sent as e-mail attachments. It is intended that the special issue of GMI on Corporate Citizenship will be published in November 2000, and the book in December 2000. For further information, or to discuss ideas for contributions, please contact the guest editors: Jorg Andriof and Malcolm McIntosh, Corporate Citizenship Unit, Centre for Creativity, Strategy and Change, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK. E-mail: J ( D O T ) Andriof ( A T ) Warwick ( D O T ) ac ( D O T ) uk and CCUMM [A T] WBS [D O T] Warwick [D O T] ac [D O T] uk Contribution guidelines can be obtained from: Samantha Self, Greenleaf Publishing. E-mail: greenleaf [ A T ] worldscope [ D O T ] co [ D O T ] uk Website: http://www.greenleaf-publishing.com ---------------------- >From Tom Watson, Waste Prevention Forum moderator: Our Internet connection here at King County, for our e-mail and website, was down for about a day-and-a-half, and has just been restored. Sorry about that! If you sent me something for the Forum and it got kicked back to you as undeliverable, please try it again, and we'll run it next time. Thanks! --------------------- >From Paul Dunn, City of Omaha Public Works Department, Omaha, NE: This audio report, from the Environmental News Network, is a little old, but still relevant. To listen to this on the Internet, you need to have the Real Audio software installed. The audio report is at: http://www.enn.com/enn-multimedia-archive/1999/12/121499/glrc_8197.asp Here's a description of the report: HOLIDAY MADNESS During the holiday season, consumerism is at an all-time high. But some individuals have resorted to simplifying their lives, and the holiday season. Tune in to this report to learn more about this unique holiday perspective, and how you can incorporate simplification tricks into your experience this season. Great Lakes Radio Consortium (5:23). 12/14/99 Paul's e-mail: pdunn [ A T ] ci [ D O T ] omaha [ D O T ] ne [ D O T ] us - end -