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03 Feb 00 - downshifter; internal reuse programs ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive --------------------- Excerpted from a message from Sara Pipher, Center for a New American Dream, Takoma Park, MD (forwarded by Marcia Rutan): The Center for a New American Dream is always trying to find ways to tell the story about people who are changing the way they consume to improve their quality of life and protect the environment. To that end, a journalist from a national women's magazine has contacted us because she is looking for a woman (sorry, guys) who has dramatically downshifted and changed her life. Ideally, she'd like to speak with a high-powered professional woman who decided to get out of the rat race and simplify. If you or someone you know would be interested in speaking to the writer, please contact us immediately. She's working on a deadline, so the sooner we match her up with someone, the better! You can e-mail me at the address below, or call me toll-free at the Center (877-68-DREAM). If you e-mail us, please include: Your full name; your address; your phone number and the best times to call; a brief description of ways in which you've downshifted/simplified. We at the Center believe sharing your experiences is one of the best ways to energize others to change their lives. I look forward to hearing from you soon! E-mail: Newdream4 (AT) newdream (DOT) org --------------------- The next three postings are in response to Barb Nesheim's 1/31/00 request for examples of companies or organizations that have internal reuse programs: --------------------- >From Julie Rhodes, Reuse Development Organization, Indianapolis, IN: Two that come to mind are: EDS (Electronic Data Systems) Corp. in Herndon, VA, has an impressive program which was started by one of ReDO's subscribers, Lisa Collins. She worked in EDS's Real Estate Division and helped the company realize thousands of dollars in savings in real estate costs, real estate tax costs and tax benefits from getting rid of excess and obsolete electronics that were being stockpiled in offices, storage areas, etc. They set up a reuse room for office supplies and equipment reuse internally, and donated lots of supplies and equipment to local non-profits. Lisa now operates a company called Corporate to Community which helps other companies set up a similar program. In Rochester, NY, hospitals are working with InterVol (a non-profit based in Rochester) to reuse medical supplies and equipment. One hospital recovered over 700 pounds of still-usable equipment and supplies, saving the hospital over $15,000 in disposal costs. E-mail: jlrhodes [ AT ] in [ DOT ] net ------------------ Clarissa Szabados-Mish, Property and Transport Services, University of Washington, Seattle, WA: Although the University of Washington (UW) does not have a formal "reuse" program, we have reuse in place in a variety of ways. The UW (and many other state agencies and institutions as well) has an effective surplus program, which makes furniture, equipment, etc., available within the campus and the community at large. University Stores makes many office supplies available as well. The recycling program encourages reuse of interoffice envelopes (we even supply an address sheet to be glued to large envelopes for reuse). Many within the community send us rubber bands and other items in the hope we have a way of recirculating them within the system. We provide shredded paper to the composting pilot program, as well as other groups to be used in shipping, for worm composting, or for other uses. Various departments consolidate Styrofoam peanuts for internal re-distribution. Corrugated cardboard boxes are available to the campus community as well. We don't monitor this, but Publications Services reuses a lot of their scrap paper for pads, and some departments create scrap pads from discarded paper. These are just some of the ways in which the UW reuses. Thanks for asking the question; it has inspired me to dig into this a bit more. E-mail: csmish ( AT ) u ( DOT ) washington ( DOT ) edu --------------------- >From Karen Higgins, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Los Angeles, CA: The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) has a Re-Use Store for departmental supplies that previously may have gone into the dumpster. The store was started as a waste prevention measure, especially after downsizing in 1998 resulted in shifting offices and leasing out space in the main office building. The store has excess office supplies such as pens, paper clips, notebooks, file and hanging folders, and in-box trays. It is staffed by student workers (funded by a DWP community program). The students also go through excess materials from various sources, like office moves, large recycling efforts (for file folders, etc.), and other excess supplies from departmental offices. The overall "reuse" program also features carpet tiles and rubber mats. We track which items go out for reuse, so we can calculate approximate weight for diversion statistics. E-mail: khiggi [ AT ] dwp [ DOT ] ci [ DOT ] la [ DOT ] ca [ DOT ] us - end -