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20 Mar 00 - mercury; packaging; videoconference; disposable cat box ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive -------------------- Excerpted from a press release from Health Care Without Harm, an international coalition based in Falls Church, VA (first seen in the 3/9/00 Solid Waste Report newsletter): The Duluth, Minnesota, City Council passed an ordinance on March 6, 2000, banning the retail sale of mercury fever thermometers. Duluth is the first city in the nation to enact such a ban. An existing Minnesota state law prohibits placing mercury thermometers in solid waste. Mercury is a known neurotoxin. Poison-control centers and emergency rooms received 18,000 calls in 1998 because of broken mercury fever thermometers, according to Health Care Without Harm. Some of these exposures have resulted in serious health effects for the people involved. If mercury spills from a thermometer and is not cleaned up, it will evaporate, potentially reaching dangerous levels in indoor air. Mercury is also a persistent bioaccumulative toxic compound, recognized as a global pollutant. Thirty-nine states have advisories restricting fish consumption due to mercury contamination. To read a copy of the ordinance, or the Health Care Without Harm press release, see the website at http://www.noharm.org/ Scroll down, and click on "Breaking News." ------------------- Excerpted from a 3/13/00 article in Packaging Network, an Internet newsletter for the packaging industry (forwarded by Heidi Siegelbaum): Some drinks in plastic bottles and metal cans will soon have an attached plastic straw that pops up automatically when you open the container. Quality Dairy Company, a subsidiary of QDC Plastic Container Co., of Lansing, MI, is reportedly planning to introduce milk, juice and water products in PopStraw packaging this spring. QDC will use 16-ounce PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles for the launch. The PopStraw was developed by The PopStraw Company, of Roseville, MI. For more information, contact Anna Lennox, director of communications, PopStraw Co., 810-773-9940. (Comment from Heidi: A great addition for Wastebusters - cans and bottles with straws that will make their recycling more difficult. What next!?) ------------------- Excerpted from the 3/15/00 "Shelf Presence" column by Greg Erickson, also from the Packaging Network industry newsletter (Erickson, a former editor of Packaging magazine, has covered the industry for many years): BOY, HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED! Here's a roundup of new products and packages that would have been met with scorn, ridicule or even legal action just a few years ago, for reasons of environmental protection. Frito-Lay Inc. has introduced big thermoformed plastic trays containing a ver-r-r-y small portion of either Fritos or Tostitos corn chips and little tubs of chili, sloppy-Joe mix, cheese dip or salsa. Sure, they look like fun. Sure, this is just enough to keep the kiddies' tummies from rumbling excessively between the end of school and the start of supper. But Lordy, is this ever a lot of packaging! I remember when the similar Oscar Mayer Lunchables first made their debut and were nearly booed off the stage by critics who saw the numerous layers of packaging materials (paperboard sleeve, plastic lidding, plastic tray) to be wasteful and irresponsible. But I haven't heard a peep about the perceived excessiveness of the Frito-Lay package. Another blast from the past is Procter & Gamble's new Mr. Clean Wipe-Ups. These nonwoven-fabric sheets, treated with antibacterial agents, are marketed as alternatives to paper towels in the kitchen and bathroom. They come in plastic storage containers that help keep the moisture in the sheets from drying up. I remember when Dow Chemical tried something very much like this back in the days of the "trash crisis" and watched it fail miserably. It was the plastic tray that got everyone riled up. >From Glass to Plastic Two products, Welch's jelly and Mrs. Butterworth's maple-syrup, have recently converted from glass to plastic bottles. Nobody's complaining. Not too long ago, a move from glass to plastic would have been viewed as a misstep, because plastic was thought to be so much more environmentally burdensome than glass. Let's Not Get Too Cocky With the presidential campaign now moving beyond the primaries and into a national struggle between two self-proclaimed environmental leaders, and with so little else to talk about (knock wood), the issue of environmental protection could easily come up again. Now, we all know that we have environmental issues to discuss. Most seem more newsworthy than the impact of used packaging. But that was the case back in the late '80s and early '90s, too. It's a strange phenomenon: Voters will overlook huge issues that are overwhelmingly complex and center their attention on relatively insignificant issues that are easier for them to wrap their minds around. Such it was back in the days of the trash crisis. I have saved just about everything I read (and wrote) on the subject back then. I will be able to haul it out and use it again with little need for updating. Did your company create a historical record of those times? Is there any way you'll be able to review all that your company did and didn't do in meeting governmental and consumer criticism? If not, you'll be reinventing the wheel. And I've got a hunch it won't be long. Greg Erickson can be contacted by e-mail at: ShelfPresence ( A T ) usa ( D O T ) net Both of the articles excerpted above can currently be seen in full at this site: http://www.packagingnetwork.com Scroll down to "Features" on the right. Click on "Shelf Presence" for the Erickson column or "Popping Up" for the pop-up straw article. Both these links on the site will probably only be there for a short time. -------------------- >From the California Integrated Waste Management Board website (forwarded by Jeff Tumarkin, Bill Reed, Karen Hamilton, Gary Liss and Jim Schrock): The California Integrated Waste Management Board will present a live satellite videoconference on March 30, 2000, to showcase innovative and successful local and regional recycling and waste reduction programs. The videoconference will highlight local government successes and model programs in reuse, recycling and composting. Sites outside California that can tune into the satellite downlink coordinates are welcome to view the teleconference. For information (including California locations, and how to receive the feed if you're outside California), see this website: http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/lgcentral/events/innovations/default.htm -------------------- >From Tom Watson, National Waste Prevention Coalition coordinator: A few months ago, we ran a posting about the KatKit, a disposable kitty litter box made by the Oil-Dri Corp. Now the pet products giant Ralston Purina (St. Louis, MO) has gotten into the disposable litter box market. Tidy Cats, a major brand of kitty litter which is made by Ralston Purina, has just introduced the "Tidy Cats Disposable Cat Box and Litter in One!" Ads in Sunday newspapers on 3/19/00 proclaimed, "Never Change the Litter Box Again!" - end -